Sociobiological perspectives on human development. Edited by Kevin R. MacDonald. ix + 405 pp. New York: Springer-Verlag. 1988. $47.50

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38542/1/1310020114_ftp.pd

A longitudinal study of adolescent growth . By John Buckler. xiii + 433 pp. London: Springer-Verlag. 1990, $211.70 (cloth)

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In memoriam: Gabriel Ward Lasker (April 29, 1912–August 27, 2002)

No abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34278/1/10224_ftp.pd

Evolutionary hypotheses for human childhood

The origins of human childhood have fascinated scholars from many disciplines. Some researchers argue that childhood, and many other human characteristics, evolved by heterochrony, an evolutionary process that alters the timing of growth stages from ancestors to their descendants. Other scholars argue against heterochrony, but so far have not offered a well-developed alternative hypothesis. This essay presents such an alternative. Childhood is defined as a unique developmental stage of humans. Childhood is the period following infancy, when the youngster is weaned from nursing but still depends on older people for feeding and protection. The biological constraints of childhood, which include an immature dentition, a small digestive system, and a calorie-demanding brain that is both relatively large and growing rapidly, necessitate the care and feeding that older individuals must provide. Evidence is presented that childhood evolved as a new stage hominid life history, first appearing, perhaps, during the time of Homo habilis. The value of childhood is often ascribed to learning many aspects of human culture. It is certainly true that childhood provides “extra” time for brain development and learning. However, the initial selective value of childhood may be more closely related to parental strategies to increase reproductive success. Childhood allows a woman to give birth to new offspring and provide care for existing dependent young. Understanding the nature of childhood helps to explain why humans have lengthy development and low fertility, but greater reproductive success than any other species. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 40:63–89, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37682/1/3_ftp.pd

Host factors in disease. age, sex, racial and ethnic group and body build. By Anthony P. Polednak. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas. 1987. xiii + 208 pp., tables, figures, index. $29.75 (cloth)

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Book reviews

Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It. By Jon Entine. New York: Public Affairs. 2000. 400 pp. ISBN: 1-891620-39-8. $25.00 (cloth).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34272/1/1019_ftp.pd

Plasticity, political economy, and physical growth status of Guatemala Maya children living in the United States

Migration of Maya refugees to the United States since the late 1970s affords the opportunity to study the consequences of life in a new environment on the growth of Maya children. The children of this study live in Indiantown, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. Maya children between 4 and 14 years old (n = 240) were measured for height, weight, fatness, and muscularity. Overall, compared with reference data for the United States, the Maya children are, on average, healthy and well nourished. They are taller and heavier and carry more fat and muscle mass than Maya children living in a village in Guatemala. However, they are shorter, on average, than children of black, Mexican-American, and white ethnicity living in Indiantown. Children of Maya immigrants born in the United States tend to be taller than immigrant children born in Guatemala or Mexico. Families that invest economic and social resources in their children tend to have taller children. More economically successful families have taller children. Migration theory and political economy theory from the social sciences are combined with plasticity theory and life history theory (parental investment) from biology to interpret these data. Am J Phys Anthropol 102:17–32, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37679/1/3_ftp.pd

The bakony growth study. By Éva BodzsÁr. 210 pp. Budapest: Humanbiologia Budapestinensis. 1991

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Socioeconomic status, sex, age, and ethnicity as determinants of body fat distribution for Guatemalan children

The distribution of subcutaneous fat at the triceps and subscapular skinfold sites is described for four groups of children living in Guatemala. These groups are (1) high socioeconomic status (SES) children of Ladino (mixed Spanish and Indian) ancestry, (2) high SES children of European ancestry, (3) low SES Ladino children, and (4) very low SES Indian children. The method of Healy and Tanner (1981) is used, employing regression and principal components analysis of log transformed skinfold values to divide “fatness” into two uncorrelated variables: size (amount of fat) and shape (fat pattern). Significant differences exist between groups in size, with lower SES groups having less fat than higher SES groups. No significant difference in fat pattern exists between the high SES Ladino and high SES European children. Significant differences do exist between the high SES groups and the low SES groups. The relative amount of subscapular fat increases from the high SES Ladinos and high SES Europeans, to the low SES Ladinos, to the very low SES Indians. In the high SES European and high SES Ladino samples, girls have significantly more arm fat than boys. There is no significant difference in fat patterning between boys and girls in the two low SES samples. Finally, the relative amount of subscapular fat tends to increase with age in all four samples. These results indicate that (1) fatness and fat patterning are independent anatomical characteristics, (2) SES influences fat patterning; low SES children of both Ladino and Indian ancestry show greater reductions in arm fat than in trunk fat compared to high SES children, (3) sexual dimorphism in fat patterning is SES dependent; low SES children show no dimorphism, high SES children are dimorphic, (4) ethnic differences in fat patterning are not demonstrable for Ladinos and Europeans of high SES; fat distribution differences between low SES Ladinos and very low SES Indians may be due to ethnic factors, SES differences, or both.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37631/1/1330690413_ftp.pd

Evolution of the human life cycle

Social mammals have three basic stages of postnatal development: infant, juvenile, and adult. Some species also have a brief female post-reproductive stage. The human life cycle, however, is best described by five stages: infant, child, juvenile, adolescent, and adult. Women in both traditional and industrial societies may also have a long post-reproductive stage. Analyses of bones and teeth of early hominids who died as subadults suggest that the evolution of the new life stages of childhood and adolescence are not of ancient origin. The current human pattern evolved after the appearance of Homo erectus . It is possible that evidence for the existence of the post-reproductive stage for women will also be recoverable from the fossil record because the hormonal changes associated with menopause have profound effects on bone density and histology of tubular bones. It is hypothesized that the new life stages of the human life cycle represent feeding and reproductive specializations of the genus Homo . © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38562/1/2_ftp.pd