Identifying Social and Cultural Barriers to Food Security in Nicaragua

IMPACT. 1: This effort will involve local researchers and community members in a much-needed food security and health study in León, Nicaragua, and in outreach efforts that provide evidencebased feedback to the local communities about these health issues. -- 2. The immediate outcome of the project will be the identification of barriers to food security and child health in poor communities in León, Nicaragua. In the long-term, this project will yield invaluable future opportunities for Ohio State students and faculty to engage with local communities in research, learning and service in an international setting, where food insecurity and child malnutrition present serious threats to individuals' well-being.OSU PARTNERS: Department of Anthropology; Department of Sociology; College of Arts and SciencesCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: Center for Demographic; and Health Research (León, Nicaragua)PRIMARY CONTACT: Barbara Piperata ([email protected]); Kammi Schmeer ([email protected])With approximately 1 billion people world-wide suffering from lack of adequate access to food, food insecurity and maternal-child malnutrition remain critical health issues in poor communities around the world. This project aims to address this pressing need in poor communities in Nicaragua (the 2nd poorest country in the Western hemisphere) through an "outreach through research" approach

Forty days and forty nights: A biocultural perspective on postpartum practices in the Amazon

The immediate postpartum period is recognized as a special time in many societies and is commonly associated with food and work restrictions. The logic of food restrictions during a period of increased energy and protein needs has been challenged, but few data are available to test the impact of these practices on the diets of lactating women. In the eastern Amazon the immediate postpartum period is referred to as resguardo, lasts for 40-41 days and includes food taboos and work restrictions. Taking a biocultural perspective, this paper combines data on the beliefs and attitudes surrounding the practice of resguardo with quantitative data on the actual dietary intakes and activity patterns of a cohort of 23 lactating women followed from birth through 15 months postpartum. This paper addresses three topics: (1) shared ideals regarding resguardo; (2) adherence to food and work restrictions; and (3) the impact of these practices on women's dietary intakes and energy expenditure. The results show that the majority of women adhered to food taboos and work restrictions. During resguardo energy expenditure in physical activity was lower, reducing women's energy needs and allowing them to devote more time to infant care. However, energy intakes were also lower. The reduction in dietary intake was impacted more by work restrictions and the loss of women in subsistence tasks during resguardo than by adherence to food taboos. In addition to altering maternal energetic strategies, resguardo served an important social function by reinforcing bonds and, for young women, marking the transition to womanhood.Amazon Lactation Diet Nutrition Taboo Work patterns Resguardo Postpartum Young mothers

Nutritional status of Makushi Amerindian children and adolescents of Guyana

Background: Amazonian Indians are in the midst of a rapid cultural transition. The developments affecting Amazonian Indians present an opportunity to address important public health problems through public and private initiatives, but to do so it is imperative to begin with information on the health status of these peoples and the underlying factors affecting it. However, relatively few such data are available for this vast region. Aim: This study describes the nutritional status of Makushi Amerindians of Guyana and considers several variables which might help to explain it. Subjects and methods: Data for 792 Makushi, 0-20 years of age from 11 villages are considered. Outcome variables considered are anthropometric markers of growth and nutritional status; specifically height-for-age, weight-for-height and body-mass index. Predictor variables explored are age, sex, relative isolation, number of siblings, season of birth, diet and morbidity. Fisher\u27s exact test, chi-square, Pearson\u27s correlation and multiple regression were used to assess possible relationships between these variables. Results: Relative to other Amazonian Indians, the Makushi have a lower rate of linear-growth faltering and a higher rate of linear-growth faltering relative to non-Amerindian Guyanese. Males, older cohorts, those living in isolated villages or born in the wet season showed higher rates of growth faltering. Conclusion: Makushi nutritional status may be explained by sex, age, relative isolation, family size, season of birth, dietary intake and infectious disease. © Informa UK, Ltd

Secular trends in adult stature among the Makushi of Guyana in the 20th Century

Objective: This study describes secular trends in physical stature, Cormic Index (CI), and body mass index (BMI) of adult Makushi Amerindians born between 1910 and 1980, compares the stature of these Makushi adults to Makushi adults measured in 1921, and provides contextual data to inform the findings. Methods: Pearson\u27s correlation was used to assess the relationship between year of birth and physical stature, BMI, and CI for 231 females and 113 males, 20 to 90 years of age measured in 2000 to 2001. Wilcoxon\u27s test was used to compare physical stature of Makushi adults measured in 2000 to 2001 with that of 40 Makushi adults measured in 1921. Results: Among Makushi measured in 2000 to 2001, females and males born more recently were taller and had a lower CI but did not differ in BMI relative to their elders. Makushi measured in 2000 to 2001 are significantly taller than those Maksuhi measured in 1921. Conclusion: The increased physical stature of and decreased CI in more recently born Makushi may be explained by a more favorable early life environment possibly due to public health measures and dietary changes. As well, trends in stature may be linked to genetic admixture with African-Guyanese migrating into the region during this time

Household environment and animal fecal contamination are critical modifiers of the gut microbiome and resistome in young children from rural Nicaragua

Abstract Background Early life plays a vital role in the development of the gut microbiome and subsequent health. While many factors that shape the gut microbiome have been described, including delivery mode, breastfeeding, and antibiotic use, the role of household environments is still unclear. Furthermore, the development of the gut antimicrobial resistome and its role in health and disease is not well characterized, particularly in settings with water insecurity and less sanitation infrastructure. Results This study investigated the gut microbiome and resistome of infants and young children (ages 4 days-6 years) in rural Nicaragua using Oxford Nanopore Technology’s MinION long-read sequencing. Differences in gut microbiome diversity and antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) abundance were examined for associations with host factors (age, sex, height for age z-score, weight for height z-score, delivery mode, breastfeeding habits) and household environmental factors (animals inside the home, coliforms in drinking water, enteric pathogens in household floors, fecal microbial source tracking markers in household floors). We identified anticipated associations of higher gut microbiome diversity with participant age and vaginal delivery. However, novel to this study were the significant, positive associations between ruminant and dog fecal contamination of household floors and gut microbiome diversity. We also identified greater abundance of potential pathogens in the gut microbiomes of participants with higher fecal contamination on their household floors. Path analysis revealed that water quality and household floor contamination independently and significantly influenced gut microbiome diversity when controlling for age. These gut microbiome contained diverse resistome, dominated by multidrug, tetracycline, macrolide/lincosamide/streptogramin, and beta-lactam resistance. We found that the abundance of ARGs in the gut decreased with age. The bacterial hosts of ARGs were mainly from the family Enterobacteriaceae, particularly Escherichia coli. Conclusions This study identified the role of household environmental contamination in the developing gut microbiome and resistome of young children and infants with a One Health perspective. We found significant relationships between host age, gut microbiome diversity, and the resistome. Understanding the impact of the household environment on the development of the resistome and microbiome in early life is essential to optimize the relationship between environmental exposure and human health. Video Abstract Graphical Abstrac

Relationship between food security and dietary diversity in Nicaraguan households

In 2020, nearly one-in-three people globally lacked access to adequate food; that is, they were food insecure. Food insecurity (FI) has four dimensions – availability, access, utilization, and stability – and is linked to poor health outcomes. Our understanding of the relationship between FI and health, however, is compromised by the fact that most research on FI focuses on the access dimension. This has resulted in a poor understanding of the utilization dimension; that is, how people cope with inadequate access to food as manifest by food choice. Here, we explore the relationship between maternal perceptions of food access and food choice, measured as dietary diversity, in 706 Nicaraguan households across urban, peri-urban and rural settings, and hypothesize that as food access worsens, dietary diversity will decline. Access was measured using the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale. Dietary data were collected via a locally-developed, 7-day food-frequency questionnaire and converted to a household dietary diversity score (HDDS). The relationship was analyzed via multiple regression and ANOVA. We found that 82% of households experienced insufficient access to food and had a mean HDDS=10.9±1.2 out of a maximum score of 12. As access to food worsened, dietary diversity declined (r2=0.15, p<0.001), and the effect of food access on HDDS varied across settings (F=3.53, p=0.02). While we found a relationship between food access and HDDS, the high prevalence of insufficient access to food combined with a high average HDDS suggests that HDDS is too blunt an instrument to capture the lived experience

Muddying the Waters: A New Area of Concern for Drinking Water Contamination in Cameroon

In urban Maroua, Cameroon, improved drinking water sources are available to a large majority of the population, yet this water is frequently distributed through informal distribution systems and stored in home containers (canaries), leaving it vulnerable to contamination. We assessed where contamination occurs within the distribution system, determined potential sources of environmental contamination, and investigated potential pathogens. Gastrointestinal health status (785 individuals) was collected via health surveys. Drinking water samples were collected from drinking water sources and canaries. Escherichia coli and total coliform levels were evaluated and molecular detection was performed to measure human-associated faecal marker, HF183; tetracycline-resistance gene, tetQ; Campylobacter spp.; and Staphylococcus aureus. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between microbial contamination and gastrointestinal illness. Canari samples had higher levels of contamination than source samples. HF183 and tetQ were detected in home and source samples. An inverse relationship was found between tetQ and E. coli. Presence of tetQ with lower E. coli levels increased the odds of reported diarrhoeal illness than E. coli levels alone. Further work is warranted to better assess the relationship between antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and other pathogens in micro-ecosystems within canaries and this relationship’s impact on drinking water quality

The effects of household water insecurity on child health and well-being

We extend the conceptualization of the social and health burdens of household water insecurity on children beyond the traditional narrow lens of microbiological pathogens and diarrhea. The global burden of disease associated with water insecurity has traditionally focused on diarrheal disease as the most significant driver of infant and child mortality. However, there are many other pathways through which children experience adverse health and social consequences from inadequate or unsafe household water. We synthesize evidence of a broad range of health impacts, affecting children from infancy to late adolescence, across four domains: exposure to unsafe water; interruptions to growth and development through poor nutrition and hydration; negative social effects such as school absenteeism and interpersonal violence; and other non-communicable health issues such as mental health, injuries, and reproductive health. The growing burden and urgency of these issues is implicated by forecasted increases in climate- and conflict-induced water scarcity, human displacement, and environmental contamination in the decades ahead.This article is categorized under:Engineering Water > Water, Health, and SanitationHuman Water > Rights to Wate

Diversifying incomes and losing landscape complexity in quilombola shifting cultivation communities of the Atlantic Rainforest (Brazil)

Shifting cultivation systems have been blamed as the primary cause of tropical deforestation and are being transformed through various forms of conservation and development policies and through the emergence of new markets for cash crops. Here, we analyze the outcomes of different policies on land use/land cover change (LUCC) in a traditional, shifting cultivation landscape in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. We also investigate the impacts of those policies on the environment and local livelihoods in Quilombola communities, which are formed by descendants of former Maroon colonies. Our findings show that conservation and social policies have had mixed effects both on the conservation of the Atlantic Forest and on the livelihoods of the Quilombola. We conclude that future interventions in the region need to build on the new, functional links between sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity, where less restrictive state policies leave room for new opportunities in self-organization and innovationFAPESP 2006/58624-6FAPESP 2005/00117-9FAPESP 07-53308-1FAPESP 2008/52446-4FAPESP 2000/04102-2FAPESP 2007/51979-6CNPq 134962/2005-2Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superio