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Objectives: Studies suggest that living at high altitude decreases obesity risk, but this research is limited to single‐country analyses. We examine the relationship between altitude and body mass index (BMI) among women living in a diverse sample of low‐ and middle‐income countries. Materials and Methods: Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 1 583 456 reproductive age women (20–49 years) in 54 countries, we fit regression models predicting BMI and obesity by altitude controlling for a range of demographic factors—age, parity, breastfeeding status, wealth, and education. Results: A mixed‐effects model with country‐level random intercepts and slopes predicts an overall −0.162 kg/m2 (95% CI −0.220, −0.104) reduction in BMI and lower odds of obesity (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87, 0.95) for every 200 m increase in altitude. However, countries vary dramatically in whether they exhibit a negative or positive association between altitude and BMI (34 countries negative, 20 positive). Mixed findings also arise when examining odds of obesity. Discussion: We show that past findings of declining obesity risk with altitude are not universal. Increasing altitude predicts slightly lower BMIs at the global level, but the relationship within individual countries varies in both strength and direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although wealth is consistently found to be an important predictor of health and well-being, there remains debate as to the best way to conceptualize and operationalize wealth. In this article, we focus on the measurement of economic resources, which is one among many forms of wealth. We provide an overview of the process of measuring material wealth, including theoretical and conceptual considerations, a how-to guide based on the most common approach to measurement, and a review of important theoretical and empirical questions that remain to be resolved. Throughout, we emphasize considerations particular to the settings in which anthropologists work, and we include variations on common approaches to measuring material wealth that might be better suited to anthropologists' theoretical questions, methodological approaches, and fieldwork settings.

This paper explores the impact of livelihood strategies and place on mental well‐being. Identifying different socioeconomic factors that impact mental well‐being across contexts is pressing given the global rise in mental health disorders. Numerous studies in the population and social sciences have emphasized the protective role of material wealth on human health and well‐being; however, scholars frequently assess wealth as a one‐dimensional variable, which may fail to capture diverse forms of wealth. Acknowledging different forms of wealth may be particularly important in settings where agricultural economies coexist with cash economies. Using data from the 2013 Namibia Demographic Health Survey (n = 13 377), we use a newly developed measure of success in agricultural activities, an agricultural wealth index, or AWI, generated by Hackman et al., (2021). To examine the role of different forms of wealth on mental health symptoms. We find mental well‐being, assessed through three survey questions, is lower among urban dwellers and females and shows varied associations with wealth type and sex/gender. In general, success in agricultural activities is associated with better mental well‐being, while the association with market success is null or and conditional upon sex/gender and place. This study adds to recent work on the value of using multidimensional measures of wealth and raises important questions about why wealth type and sex/gender differentially impact mental well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women from several Tanzania communities were analyzed to determine the relation between the measures of marital status and polygyny and psychosocial stress. Polygynous marriage was shown to lead to anxiety and depression in these females.

A preliminary study was carried out to examine whether caretaker reports of food insecurity were associated with anxiety and depression among four ethnic groups in two communities of rural Tanzania. The findings indicate that women might use expressions of hunger and food insecurity as a way to express their anxiety and depression which, if any, of the hypothesis is correct has implications for community-based interventions and, for measuring and monitoring food insecurity.

Objectives: There is considerable interest in the link between household food insecurity and child wellbeing, and the extent to which caregiver wellbeing mediates the relationship between food insecurity and child wellbeing. The aim of this was to assess these relationships among a rural population in Ethiopia. Methods: We used existing survey data from a maximum of 1,006 children under 5 years of age with matched data on household-level data on food insecurity, caregiver distress, and asset ownership, along with other sociodemographic information. All respondents lived in a predominately rural, primarily subsistence-based area in southwest Ethiopia. Multivariable regression models were used to test hypothesized associations. Results: Household food insecurity, distress, and socioeconomic status predicted children's weight for age and undernutrition, defined as weight for age Z (WAZ) less than −2SD from the reference median. A small portion of the household food insecurity effect was mediated by caregiver distress but these were largely independent effects. Maternal distress was associated with greater odds of a child having any illness, and any illness was associated with lower WAZ and higher odds of being undernourished. The effect of maternal distress on undernutrition was mediated by diarrhea. Conclusions: This study suggests that household food insecurity, maternal distress, and household SES are independent contributors to children's undernutrition. Our results are consistent with others but are not generally consistent with the hypothesis that maternal distress is a primary pathway through which food insecurity impacts on child nutritional wellbeing. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]