Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:53:43.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inter-individual and seasonal weight variation in rural Nepali women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

C. Panter-Brick
C. Panter-Brick
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Durham
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Changes in body weight were examined for non-pregnant women in rural Nepal, using 183 anthropometric measures between the early winter and monsoon seasons in 1982, 1982–83, 1990–91 and 1993. The women gained weight when work loads decreased after the monsoon, but despite substantial changes in total energy expenditure, which were out of phase with changes in food intake, seasonal changes were small, averaging only up to 2.6% of initial body weight.

There were notable differences between individual women, changes in body weight ranging from-5·6 kg to 4·8 kg. Weight change was examined with respect to lactation status, age, body mass index, mid upper arm circumference and skinfolds as well as total energy expenditure and intake. Non-lactating women, very thin women and women aged under 25 years gained more weight than their counterparts, both before and after the monsoon. Data for a sub-sample in 1982–83 indicated that women who maintained high physical activity levels throughout the year were less prone to weight loss than women whose activity fluctuated between seasons. Initial energy reserves, age-related maturation factors, levels of physical activity and energy intake combine to produce the notable inter-individual variation in body weight changes observed in this population.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , April 1995 , pp. 215 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adair, L. (1992) Postpartum nutritional status of Filipino women. Am. J. hum. Biol. 4, 635.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellison, P. T. (1991) Reproductive ecology and human fertility. In: Applications of Biological Anthropology to Human Affairs,, pp. 14–54. Edited by Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. & Lasker, G. W.. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO/WHOIUNU Expert Consultation (1985) Energy and Protein Requirements. Technical Report Series 724, World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Ferro-Luzzi, A. (1990) Seasonal energy stress in marginally nourished rural women: interpretation and integrated conclusions of a multicentre study in three developing countries. Eur. J. clin. Nutr. 44, Suppl. 1, 41.Google ScholarPubMed
Ferro-Luzzi, A. & Branca, F. (1993) Nutritional seasonality: the dimensions of the problem. In: Seasonality and Human Ecology, pp. 149–165. Edited by Ulijaszeck, S. J. & Strickland, S. S.. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferro-Luzzi, A., Scaccini, C., Taffese, S., Aberra, B. & Demeke, T. (1990) Seasonal energy deficiency in Ethiopian rural women. Eur. I clin. Nutr. 44, Suppl. 1, 7.Google ScholarPubMed
Ferro-Luzzi, A., Setrer, S., Franklin, M. & James, W. P. T. (1992) A simplified approach of assessing adult chronic energy deficiency. Eur. J. clin. Nutr. 46, 173.Google ScholarPubMed
James, W. P. T., Ferro-Luzzi, A. & Waterlow, J. C. (1988) Definition of chronic energy deficiency in adults. Europ. J. clin. Nutr. 42, 969.Google ScholarPubMed
Koppert, G. J. A. (1988) Alimentation et Culture Chez les Tamang. les Ghale et les Kami du Nepal. PhD thesis, Faculté de Droit et de Science Politique, Aix-Marseille.Google Scholar
Kronmal, R. A. (1993) Spurious correlation and the fallacy of the ratio standard revisited. J. R. statist. Soc. A. 156, 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panter-Brick, C. (1989) Motherhood and subsistence work-the Tamang of rural Nepal. Hum. Ecol. 17, 205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Panter-Brick, C. (1992) The energy cost of common tasks in Nepal: levels of energy expenditure compatible with physical activity. Eur. J. appl. Phys. & occup. Phys. 64, 477.Google ScholarPubMed
Panter-Brick, C. (1993a). Seasonality and levels of energy expenditure during pregnancy and lactation for rural Nepali women. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 57, 620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Panter-Brick, C. (1993b) Mother-child food allocation and levels of subsistence activity in rural Nepal. Ecol. Food Nutr. 29, 319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panter-Brick, C., Lotstein, D. S. & Ellison, P. T. (1993) Seasonality of reproductive function and weight loss in rural Nepali women. Hum. Reprod. 8, 684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payne, P. (1989) Public health and functional consequences of seasonal hunger and malnutrition. In: Causes and Implications of Seasonal Variability in Third World Agriculture: The Consequences for Food Security. Edited by D., Sahn. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Rosetta, L. (1986) Sex differences in seasonal variations of the nutritional status of Serere adults in Senegal. Ecol. Food. Nutr. 18, 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultink, W. J., Klaver, W., Van Wuk, H., Van Raaij, J. M. A. & Hautvast, J. G. A. J. (1990) Body weight changes and basal metabolic rates of rural Beninese women during seasons with different energy intakes. Eur. J. clin. Nutr. 44, Suppl. 1, 31.Google ScholarPubMed
Ulijaszek, S. J. (1993) Intra- and inter-observer error in anthropometric measurement. In: Anthropometry: the Individual and the Population. Edited by Ulijaszek, S. J. & Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N.. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Weiner, J. S. & Lourie, J. A. (1981) Practical Human Biology. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar