Effects of a Mixed-Subsistence Diet on the Growth of Hadza Children

Authors

Trevor R. Pollom, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Chad L. Cross, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Kristen N. Herlosky, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Elle Ford, University of California, Berkeley
Alyssa N. Crittenden, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-24-2020

Publication Title

American Journal of Human Biology

First page number:

1

Last page number:

5

Abstract

Introduction: We investigated the preliminary effects of dietary changes onthe anthropometric measurements of child and adolescent Hadza foragers.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing height and weightof participants (aged 0-17 years) at two time points, 2005 (n = 195) and 2017(n = 52), from two locations: semi-nomadic “bush camps” and sedentary“village camps”. World Health Organization (WHO) calculators were used togenerate standardized z-scores for weight-for-height (WHZ), weight-for-age(WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and BMI-for-age (BMIFAZ). Cross tabulationswere constructed for each measurement variable as a function of z-score cate-gories and the variables year, location, and sex.Results: Residency in a village, and associated mixed-subsistence diet, wasassociated with favorable growth, including greater WAZ (P < .001), HAZ(P < .001), and BMIFAZ (P = .004), but not WHZ (P = .717). Regardless of res-idency location, participants showed an improved WAZ (P = .021) and HAZ(P < .001) in the 2017 study year. We found no sex differences.Discussion and Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that amixed-subsistence diet may confer advantages over an exclusive wild food diet,a trend also reported among other transitioning foragers.

Disciplines

Anthropology | Biological and Physical Anthropology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Language

English

Repository Citation

Pollom, T. R., Cross, C. L., Herlosky, K. N., Ford, E., Crittenden, A. N. (2020). Effects of a Mixed-Subsistence Diet on the Growth of Hadza Children. American Journal of Human Biology 1-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23455