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Background: Pastoralists live in challenging environments, which may be accompanied by unique activity, energy, and water requirements. Aim: Few studies have examined whether the demands of pastoralism contribute to differences in total energy expenditure (TEE) and water turnover (WT) compared to other lifestyles. Subjects and methods: Accelerometer-derived physical activity, doubly labelled water-derived TEE and WT, and anthropometric data were collected for 34 semi-nomadic Daasanach adults from three northern Kenyan communities with different levels of pastoralist activity. Daasanach TEEs and WTs were compared to those of other small-scale and industrialised populations. Results: When modelled as a function of fat-free-mass, fat-mass, age, and sex, TEE did not differ between Daasanach communities. Daasanach TEE (1564–4172 kcal/day) was not significantly correlated with activity and 91% of TEEs were within the range expected for individuals from comparison populations. Mean WT did not differ between Daasanach communities; Daasanach absolute (7.54 litres/day men; 7.46 litres/day women), mass-adjusted, and TEE-adjusted WT was higher than most populations worldwide. Conclusions: The similar mass-adjusted TEE of Daasanach and industrialised populations supports the hypothesis that habitual TEE is constrained, with physically demanding lifestyles necessitating trade-offs in energy allocation. Elevated WT in the absence of elevated TEE likely reflects a demanding active lifestyle in a hot, arid climate. 

Abstract Background and objectivesNon-communicable disease risk and the epidemic of cardiometabolic diseases continue to grow across the expanding industrialized world. Probing the relationships between evolved human physiology and modern socioecological conditions is central to understanding this health crisis. Therefore, we investigated the relationships between increased market access, shifting subsistence patterns and cardiometabolic health indicators within Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralists who vary in their engagement in traditional lifestyle and emerging market behaviors. MethodologyWe conducted cross-sectional socioecological, demographic and lifestyle stressor surveys along with health, biomarker and nutrition examinations among 225 (51.6% female) Daasanach adults in 2019–2020. We used linear mixed-effects models to test how differing levels of engagement in market integration and traditional subsistence activities related to blood pressure (BP), body composition and blood chemistry. ResultsWe found that systolic and diastolic BP, as well as the probability of having high BP (hypertension), were negatively associated with distance to market, a proxy for market integration. Additionally, body composition varied significantly by socioeconomic status (SES), with significant positive associations between BMI and body fat and higher SES among adults. Conclusions and implicationsWhile evidence for evolutionary mismatch and health variation have been found across a number of populations affected by an urban/rural divide, these results demonstrate the effects of market integration and sedentarization on cardiometabolic health associated with the early stages of lifestyle changes. Our findings provide evidence for the changes in health when small-scale populations begin the processes of sedentarization and market integration that result from myriad market pressures.