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Non-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.

We 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.

We 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.

While 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.

 

Abstract Objective: Water plays a critical role in the production of food and preparation of nutritious meals, yet few studies have examined the relationship between water and food insecurity. The primary objective of this study, therefore, was to examine how experiences of household water insecurity (HWI) relate to experiences of household food insecurity (HFI) among a pastoralist population living in an arid, water-stressed region of northern Kenya. Design: We implemented the twelve-item Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE, range 0–36) Scale and the nine-item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS, range 0–27) in a cross-sectional survey to measure HWI and HFI, respectively. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and intake of meat and dairy in the prior week were collected as covariates of interest. Setting: Northern Kenya, June–July 2019. Participants: Daasanach pastoralist households ( n 136) from seven communities. Results: In the prior 4 weeks, 93·4 % and 98·5 % of households had experienced moderate-to-severe HWI and HFI, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated a strong association between HWI and HFI. Each point higher HWISE score was associated with a 0·44-point (95 % CI: 0·22, 0·66, P = 0·003) higher HFIAS score adjusting for socio-economic status and other covariates. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate high prevalence and co-occurrence of HWI and HFI among Daasanach pastoralists in northern Kenya. This study highlights the need to address HWI and HFI simultaneously when developing policies and interventions to improve the nutritional well-being of populations whose subsistence is closely tied to water availability and access. 

Extreme climatic events are increasing in frequency, leading to hotter temperatures, flooding, droughts, severe storms, and rising oceans. This special issue brings together a collection of seven articles that describe the impacts of extreme climatic events on a diverse set of human biology and health outcomes. The first two articles cover extreme temperatures extending from extreme heat to cold and changes in winter weather and the respective implications for adverse health events, human environmental limits, well‐being, and human adaptability. Next, two articles cover the effects of exposures to extreme storms through an examination of hurricanes and cyclones on stress and birth outcomes. The following two articles describe the effects of extreme flooding events on livelihoods, nutrition, water and food insecurity, diarrheal and respiratory health, and stress. The last article examines the effects of drought on diet and food insecurity. Following a brief review of each extreme climatic event and articles covered in this special issue, I discuss future research opportunities–highlighting domains of climate change and specific research questions that are ripe for biological anthropologists to investigate. I close with a description of interdisciplinary methods to assess climate exposures and human biology outcomes to aid the investigation of the defining question of our time – how climate change will affect human biology and health. Ultimately, climate change is a water, food, and health problem. Human biologists offer a unique perspective for a combination of theoretical, methodological, and applied reasons and thus are in a prime position to contribute to this critical research agenda.