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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]

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]

Fathers contribute to healthy child development, but there are limited data that provide an in-depth understanding of fathers' perceptions of the challenges and rewards of fatherhood. We recruited 122 fathers from three different ethnic groups living in Atlanta, Georgia to conduct a mixed-methods research study on fathers' perceptions of the challenges and rewards of fatherhood. Challenges included financial responsibilities (56%), sleep-deprivation (47%), work-family conflict (44%), negative changes in their relationship with their partner (43%), and children crying and whining (23%). Ninety seven percent of fathers agreed that having children added meaning to their life when asked. Many indicated that having children infused their life with an invaluable sense of meaning and purpose, and inspired them to become better people. The most common spontaneously mentioned rewards included witnessing developmental milestones (38%), experiencing the child as an extension of oneself (26%), witnessing children's accomplishments (26%), and feeling loved by children (20%). In quantitative analyses, higher selfreported quality of family life was associated with living with children full-time, having fewer children, getting more sleep, having planned the first child, and minimal work-family conflict and financial stress. Finally, fathers reported increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect over the course of the interviews, suggesting that they benefited psychologically from reflecting on and sharing their experience as fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fathers contribute to healthy child development, but there are limited data that provide an in-depth understanding of fathers' perceptions of the challenges and rewards of fatherhood. We recruited 122 fathers from three different ethnic groups living in Atlanta, Georgia to conduct a mixed-methods research study on fathers' perceptions of the challenges and rewards of fatherhood. Challenges included financial responsibilities (56%), sleep-deprivation (47%), work-family conflict (44%), negative changes in their relationship with their partner (43%), and children crying and whining (23%). Ninety seven percent of fathers agreed that having children added meaning to their life when asked. Many indicated that having children infused their life with an invaluable sense of meaning and purpose, and inspired them to become better people. The most common spontaneously mentioned rewards included witnessing developmental milestones (38%), experiencing the child as an extension of oneself (26%), witnessing children's accomplishments (26%), and feeling loved by children (20%). In quantitative analyses, higher selfreported quality of family life was associated with living with children full-time, having fewer children, getting more sleep, having planned the first child, and minimal work-family conflict and financial stress. Finally, fathers reported increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect over the course of the interviews, suggesting that they benefited psychologically from reflecting on and sharing their experience as fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author ponders on the lessons that academic museum professionals can learn from the leadership studies created by academic librarians. Topics include leveraging new perspectives and the power of reframing situations to solve problems in new ways, the similarities in organizational structures, digital and physical collection concerns and variety of research approaches employed in academic library leadership studies.

To what extent do people agree on the meaning of foods, and does this vary by socioeconomic status, demographics, or household type? Addressing this question is critical for testing hypotheses about the relationship between food insecurity, food meaning, and mental well-being because it speaks directly to the social implications of food behaviors. In this study, we test for a shared cultural model of food meaning in two diverse settings: urban Ethiopia and rural Brazil. Using freelist and pile sort data from 63 respondents in Ethiopia and 62 from Brazil, we show strong consensus on the prestige value of various key food items in each context. Further, consensus varies little across household composition, food security status, and age and gender. This suggests that, in these two settings, consumption of widely available foods is an act that has both biological and social consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The relationship between wealth and HIV status has attracted much attention. • Previous assessments do not capture the multiple forms of wealth in many societies. • We examine the HIV-wealth relation with a measure of wealth from diverse livelihoods. • Results show that wage economy wealth is associated with risk of HIV infection. • Results show that agricultural wealth is protective against HIV infection. • Studies must use measures that are sensitive to the diverse ways in which people secure livelihoods. Abstract The relationship between material wealth and HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa has been the subject of considerable debate in part because many studies show that wealth is positively associated with infection. Others have critiqued such results, suggesting that the widely used indicators of wealth underlying these results fail to capture the diversity of livelihood portfolios in East Africa. Using population representative data from 35,799 households in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, we estimate household wealth along two different dimensions, associated respectively with success in wage economies and agricultural economies. Regression models for men and women show consistent and opposing associations between type of wealth and HIV infection. Controlling for age, education, and urban dwelling, increasing achievement along the wage economy dimension is positively (often significantly) associated with HIV infection. In contrast, increasing achievement along the agricultural economy dimension is often negatively associated with HIV infection, and is never associated with increased HIV risk. Interestingly, variables to assess risky sexual behaviors do not mediate the relationship between either type of wealth and HIV infection. Our results suggest that future studies on the relationship between HIV and wealth need to take into account the different dimensions of household wealth found in East African countries. Our results also generate new, important questions about why and how different forms of wealth drive HIV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is broad anthropological interest in understanding how people define 'insiders' and 'outsiders' and how this shapes their attitudes and behaviors toward others. As such, a suite of hypotheses has been proposed to account for the varying degrees of in-group preference between individuals and societies. We test three hypotheses related to material insecurity, pathogen stress, and views of gender equality among cross-sectional ( n = 1896) and longitudinal ( n = 1002) samples of young people in Ethiopia (aged 13-17 years at baseline) to explore stability and change in their preferences for coethnic spouses. We show that food insecurity is associated with a greater likelihood of intolerant mate preferences. We also find that young people who hold more gender equitable attitudes tended to hold more tolerant mate preferences. Finally, we find no support for the hypothesis that expected pathogen exposure is associated with intolerant mate preferences. Our results most strongly support a material insecurity hypothesis of in-group bias, which assumes that uncertainty over meeting basic needs leads people to favor those in their in-group. As such, our findings join a small but growing group of studies that highlight the importance of material insecurity for understanding tolerance, xenophobia, in-group bias, and favoritism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim:To test whether a risk of child illness is best predicted by deviations from a population-specific growth distribution or a universal growth distribution. Subjects and methods:Child weight for height and child illness data from 433 776 children (1–59 months) from 47 different low and lower income countries are used in regression models to estimate for each country the child basal weight for height. This study assesses the extent to which individuals within populations deviate from their basal slenderness. It uses correlation and regression techniques to estimate the relationship between child illness (diarrhoea, fever or cough) and basal weight for height, and residual weight for height. Results:In bivariate tests, basal weight for heightz-score did not predict the country level prevalence of child illness (r2 = –0.01,n = 47,p = 0.53), but excess weight for height did (r2 = 0.14,p < 0.01). At the individual level, household wealth is negatively associated with the odds that a child is reported as ill (beta = –0.04,p < 0.001,n = 433 776) and basal weight for height was not (beta = 0.20,p = 0.27). Deviations from country-specific basal weight for height were negatively associated with the likelihood of illness (beta = –0.13,p < 0.01), indicating a 13% reduction in illness risk for every 0.1 standard deviation increase in residual weight-for-height Conclusion:These results are consistent with the idea that populations may differ in their body slenderness, and that deviations from this body form may predict the risk of childhood illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material wealth is a key factor shaping human development and well-being. Every year, hundreds of studies in social science and policy fields assess material wealth in low- and middle-income countries assuming that there is a single dimension by which households can move from poverty to prosperity. However, a one-dimensional model may miss important kinds of prosperity, particularly in countries where traditional subsistence-based livelihoods coexist with modern cash economies. Using multiple correspondence analysis to analyze representative household data from six countries—Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Guatemala—across three world regions, we identify a number of independent dimension of wealth, each with a clear link to locally relevant pathways to success in cash and agricultural economies. In all cases, the first dimension identified by this approach replicates standard one-dimensional estimates and captures success in cash economies. The novel dimensions we identify reflect success in different agricultural sectors and are independently associated with key benchmarks of food security and human growth, such as adult body mass index and child height. The multidimensional models of wealth we describe here provide new opportunities for examining the causes and consequences of wealth inequality that go beyond success in cash economies, for tracing the emergence of hybrid pathways to prosperity, and for assessing how these different pathways to economic success carry different health risks and social opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objectives To test the hypothesis that moderate iron deficiency among children is associated with lower likelihood of infection. Materials and Methods We use data from a population representative cross sectional study of 1164 Tanzanian children aged 6-59 months from the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. Respondents' iron levels were assessed through serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) and anemia was assessed using hemoglobin. C-reactive protein (CRP) was used as a marker of infection. Results Nearly 25% of the children were categorized as normal (iron replete, non-anemic); 45% were IDE (low iron, non-anemic), 24% were classified as IDA (low iron, anemic), and 69 children (5.9%) were anemic but had no evidence of iron deficiency. IDE was not associated with a lower likelihood of elevated CRP compared to iron replete, non-anemic children; 45% of normal children had elevated CRP compared to 51% of IDE children ( P = 0.10). IDA, by contrast, was associated with a higher likelihood of elevated CRP (68%, P < 0.001). These results were unchanged when child, maternal, and household controls were added to a logistic regression model. Discussion Our results do not support the optimal iron hypothesis as conventionally formulated. The fact that we did not find an effect where some other studies have may be due to differences in study design, sample (e.g., age), or the baseline pathogenic ecology. Alternatively, it may be more fruitful to investigate iron regulation as an allostatic system that responds to infections adaptively, rather than to expect an optimal pre-infection value. Am J Phys Anthropol 157:675-679, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary human populations conform to ecogeographic predictions that animals will become more compact in cooler climates and less compact in warmer ones. However, it remains unclear to what extent this pattern reflects plastic responses to current environments or genetic differences among populations. Analyzing anthropometric surveys of 232,684 children and adults from across 80 ethnolinguistic groups in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Americas, we confirm that body surface-to-volume correlates with contemporary temperature at magnitudes found in more latitudinally diverse samples (Adj. R2 = 0.14-0.28). However, far more variation in body surface-to-volume is attributable to genetic population structure (Adj. R2 = 0.50-0.74). Moreover, genetic population structure accounts for nearly all of the observed relationship between contemporary temperature and body surface-to-volume among children and adults. Indeed, after controlling for population structure, contemporary temperature accounts for no more than 4% of the variance in body form in these groups. This effect of genetic affinity on body form is also independent of other ecological variables, such as dominant mode of subsistence and household wealth per capita. These findings suggest that the observed fit of human body surface-to-volume with current climate in this sample reflects relatively large effects of existing genetic population structure of contemporary humans compared to plastic response to current environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives There is increasing interest in the epidemiology of immune activation among young children because of the links with mortality and growth. We hypothesized that infant and child inflammation, as measured by elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), would be associated with household assets, household size, measures of sanitation, and food insecurity. We also hypothesized that children in the poorest households and with elevated CRP would show evidence of growth faltering. Methods A nationally representative cross-sectional study of Tanzania children 6-59 months of age. Survey data, anthropometrics, and dried blood spots were available for 1,387 children. Measures of elevated CRP (CRP ≥ 1.1 mg/l) were used to assess inflammation. Results Fifty-four percent of the sample had CRP ≥ 1.1 mg/l. In bivariate analyses, several measures of sanitation were associated with elevated CRP but in multiple regression models only age, sex, literacy, maternal reports of illness, household size, and living in the wealthiest households predicted CRP. There were no associations between elevated CRP and any measure of child growth. Conclusions Among children in Tanzania, a single elevated CRP does not predict poor growth functioning. Elevated CRP is associated with individual, caretaker, household, and community-level variables. Future work should strive to measure local biologies in more nuanced ways. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 26:523-529, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Many studies have linked measures of adult body shape and mass in ancient and contemporary populations to ecogeographical variables such as temperature and latitude. These results tend to support Bergmann's rule, which posits that bodies will be relatively less slender for their height in colder climates and more slender in warmer climates. Less well explored is the ontogeny of these population-level differences. Here we use data on infants and children from 46 low and lower income countries to test whether children's weight for height is associated with measures of temperature and latitude. We also test the hypothesis that children living in areas with greater pathogen prevalence will be lighter for their height because of life history trade-offs between investment in immune function and growth. Finally, we test whether population specific adult body mass predicts infant and child body mass, and whether this is independent of ecogeographical variables. Our results show that maximum monthly temperature explains 17% of children's weight for height while adult population-level body mass explains ∼44% (Table [Regression]). The measures of pathogen prevalence explain little of the variation in children's body shape (8%; P > 0.05). Our results suggest that population differences are consistent with Bergmann's rule but parental body shape explains more variance. Moreover, these population-level differences arise early in development, suggesting that any possible environmental influences occur in utero and/or result from epigenetic or population genetic differences. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:232-238, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measures of human body mass confound 1) well-established population differences in body form and 2) exposure to obesogenic environments, posing challenges for using body mass index (BMI) in cross-population studies of body form, energy reserves, and obesity-linked disease risk. We propose a method for decomposing population BMI by estimating basal BMI (bBMI) among young adults living in extremely poor, rural households where excess body mass accumulation is uncommon. We test this method with nationally representative, cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) collected from 69,916 rural women (20-24 years) in 47 low-income countries. Predicting BMI by household wealth, we estimate country-level bBMI as the average BMI of young women (20-24 years) living in rural households with total assets <400 USD per capita. Above 400 USD per capita, BMI increases with both wealth and age. Below this point, BMI hits a baseline floor showing little effect of either age or wealth. Between-country variation in bBMI (range of 4.3 kg m−2) is reliable across decades and age groups ( R2 = 0.83-0.88). Country-level estimates of bBMI show no relation to diabetes prevalence or country-level GDP ( R2 < 0.05), supporting its independence from excess body mass. Residual BMI (average BMI minus bBMI) shows better fit with both country-level GDP ( R2 = 0.55 vs. 0.40) and diabetes prevalence ( R2 = 0.23 vs. 0.17) than does conventional BMI. This method produces reliable estimates of bBMI across a wide range of nationally representative samples, providing a new approach to investigating population variation in body mass. Am J Phys Anthropol 153:542-550, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on qualitative and quantitative research to examine the relationship between the consumption of khat, symptoms of depression and anxiety and the experience of time among young men in urban Ethiopia. Young men claim that khat, a mild stimulant, both causes and alleviates symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, our quantitative data indicate that there is not a direct relationship between khat and symptoms of depression and anxiety. We analyze this apparent contradiction in terms of young men's experiences of time. Long-term ethnographic research indicates that khat consumption and mental distress have a close relationship with young men's temporal problems. In a context of high urban unemployment, young men struggle to negotiate overabundant amounts of unstructured time in the present and place themselves within a narrative in which they are progressing toward future aspirations. These temporal struggles generate symptoms of depression and anxiety. For young men, khat consumption functions to reposition them in relation to time, both in the present and the future. Ultimately, we argue that the relationship between khat and time has implications for the economic issues that underlie young people's symptoms of depression and anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The rise in food prices since 2007 is widely recognized as signaling a crisis of food insecurity among the world''s poor. Scholars sought to chart the impacts of the crisis on food insecurity by conducting simulation studies, assessing anthropometric outcomes, and evaluating shifts in experience-based measures of food security. Few studies, however, have investigated the broader impacts on those most vulnerable and how rapid rises in food prices play out in the everyday lives of those most impacted. We used qualitative methods to investigate the impact of the rise in food prices on the urban poor in Ethiopia. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted in August 2011, in the provincial town of Jimma. Themes identified in these interviews included coping strategies, consumption priorities, and impacts on institutional networks of sharing. Our results suggest that several important cultural practices, including funerals and coffee ceremonies, were undermined by the rise in prices, and that respondents linked food prices to increasing food insecurity, which they in turn linked to high levels of stress, poor mental health, and reduced physical health. Our results are consistent with several other studies that suggest that food insecurity has a range of non-nutritional consequences, and that these are due in part to the highly social nature of food. Recognizing the effects of food insecurity on dimensions of everyday life such as interaction with neighbors, and feelings of shame, draws attention to the potential for food price increases to have erosive effects on communal social capital, and to increase the vulnerability of affected peoples to future shocks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Food security occurs when all members of a household have reliable access to food in sufficient quantity and quality to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Given the important biological and social value of food for humans, food and food sufficiency have been traditional topics of study among biological anthropolo-gists. The focus on food insecurity, however, has emerged within the past two decades and recent global events, including the food crisis of 2007/2008, have led to renewed interests in the topic of food insecurity and wellbeing. Here, we review current and novel threats to food security, current thinking on measurement and definitions, and then outline a model that links food insecurity to coping strategies and then to health out-comes. We suggest that coping strategies are typically context-specific and can be food and nonfood based. We further suggest that coping strategies may impact health quite broadly, not just through nutritional path-ways. We then review available data on the relation-ship between food insecurity and nutritional status, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and mental health. Our review highlights the far reaching consequences of food insecurity for human wellbeing but also the consid-erable variability in its effect and our limited empirical knowledge of the pathways through which food insecur-ity impacts health. We conclude by offering thoughts on how biological anthropologists might contribute to grow-ing our understanding of food insecurity and human health and wellbeing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security occurs when all members of a household have reliable access to food in sufficient quantity and quality to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Given the important biological and social value of food for humans, food and food sufficiency have been traditional topics of study among biological anthropologists. The focus on food insecurity, however, has emerged within the past two decades and recent global events, including the food crisis of 2007/2008, have led to renewed interests in the topic of food insecurity and wellbeing. Here, we review current and novel threats to food security, current thinking on measurement and definitions, and then outline a model that links food insecurity to coping strategies and then to health outcomes. We suggest that coping strategies are typically context-specific and can be food and nonfood based. We further suggest that coping strategies may impact health quite broadly, not just through nutritional pathways. We then review available data on the relationship between food insecurity and nutritional status, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and mental health. Our review highlights the far reaching consequences of food insecurity for human wellbeing but also the considerable variability in its effect and our limited empirical knowledge of the pathways through which food insecurity impacts health. We conclude by offering thoughts on how biological anthropologists might contribute to growing our understanding of food insecurity and human health and wellbeing. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The concept of acculturation is widely used in the health and social sciences to explain various health and behavioral outcomes. A review of the literature highlights weaknesses in current acculturation research including the failure to ground the concept in a theory of culture, failure to specify the pathways through which acculturation impacts on outcomes and reliance on methodological tools that do not measure the core construct of interest. Building on cognitive and evolutionary anthropological theories and methods of measuring the distribution of cultural beliefs, we suggest that a research program focused on acculturation needs to initially aim at measuring beliefs, attitudes, and norms, and not on behavior. Researchers should empirically examine the distribution of beliefs across presumed cultural groups, and specify how these might impact on outcomes of interest. By parceling beliefs as distinct from behavior, our approach advances culture as but one possible hypothesis to account for outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives. To expand the understanding of potential pathways through which food insecurity is associated with adverse health outcomes, we investigated whether food insecurity is associated with nutritional levels, inflammatory response, and altered immune function. Methods. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2006) with 12 191 participants. We assessed food insecurity using the US Department of Agriculture food security scale module and measured clinical biomarkers from blood samples obtained during participants' visits to mobile examination centers. Results. Of the study population, 21.5% was food insecure. Food insecurity was associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04, 1.40) and of white blood cell count (AOR = 1.36; 95% CI = 1.11, 1.67). White blood cell count partly mediated the association between food insecurity and C-reactive protein. Conclusions. These findings show that food insecurity is associated with increased inflammation, a correlate of chronic diseases. Immune response also appears to be a potential mediator in this pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The article discusses the different threats to local and global food security during the 21st century. Among these threats are global food price increases, population explosion and oil price increases. It explores the relationship between food insecurity and poor health outcomes, and defines the key construct of food insecurity. Several strategies to cope with insecure acces to food are also provided.

Abstract: The global food crisis of 2008 led to renewed interest in global food insecurity and how macro-level food prices impact household and individual level wellbeing. There is debate over the extent to which food price increases in 2008 eroded food security, the extent to which this effect was distributed across rural and urban locales, and the extent to which rural farmers might have benefited. Ethiopia’s food prices increased particularly dramatically between 2005 and 2008 and here we ask whether there was a concomitant increase in household food insecurity, whether this decline was distributed equally across rural, urban, and semi-urban locales, and to what extent pre-crisis household capacities and vulnerabilities impacted 2008 household food insecurity levels. Data are drawn from a random sample of 2610 households in Southwest Ethiopia surveyed 2005/6 and again in mid to late 2008. Results show broad deterioration of household food insecurity relative to baseline but declines were most pronounced in the rural areas. Wealthier households and those that were relatively more food secure in 2005/6 tended to be more food secure in 2008, net of other factors, and these effects were most pronounced in urban areas. External shocks, such as a job loss or loss of crops, experienced by households were also associated with worse food insecurity in 2008 but few other household variables were associated with 2008 food insecurity. Our results also showed that rural farmers tended to produce small amounts for sale on markets, and thus were not able to enjoy the potential benefits that come from greater crop prices. We conclude that poverty, and not urban/rural difference, is the important variable for understanding the risk of food insecurity during a food crisis and that many rural farmers are too poor to take advantage of rapid rises in food prices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is not known to what extent food insecurity may underlie the continued high rates of maternal to child transmission of HIV and AIDS (MTCT) in sub-Saharan Africa, where most cases of pediatric HIV and AIDS are reported to occur. However, a number of plausible conceptual models and a growing evidence base drawn from both qualitative and empirical studies suggest that food insecurity contributes significantly to the epidemic of pediatric HIV infection. Specifically, food insecurity puts women at risk of HIV infection and weakens the ability of infected women and the health systems to which they may have access to prevent secondary infection of their children. Applied anthropologists have played a role in understanding some of the pathways through which food insecurity mediates biological and social risks of maternal to child transmission of HIV and AIDS. Efforts to understand and address the biocultural pathways through which food insecurity increases transmission of HIV from mothers to children can raise awareness of the importance of food and nutrition security among policy makers and program planners. Applied research on food insecurity by anthropologists can inform communities and contribute to the design of improved programs to prevent of MTCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several related demographic trends are occurring in developing countries: youth comprise a large portion of populations, fertility rates are declining, and urban dwellers are increasing. As fertility rates decline and populations age, the decline in the ratio of young dependents to working age adults is expected to free up household resources, which can be invested in human capital, including youth nutritional wellbeing. We test this hypothesis in a sample of youth ( n = 1,934) in Southwestern Ethiopia. Multiple measures of achieved growth and nutritional status are explored (weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), body mass index (BMI) and body mass index for age z-score (BMIZ), weight for age z-score (WAZ), and height for age z-score (HAZ)). In multivariable models controlling for the effects of income, age, gender, and youth workloads, youth living in rural settings had significantly lower weight (1.24 kg lighter), MUAC (0.67 cm lower), BMI (0.45 BMI lower), BMIZ (0.27 lower), HAZ (0.14 HAZ lower), and WAZ (0.3 WAZ lower) than urban youth (all P < 0.01). Compared with youth in the lowest dependency ratio households, results show that youth in households with the highest dependency ratios were estimated to be 1.3 kg lighter, have 0.67 cm smaller MUAC, and BMI that was 0.59 lower (all P<0.01). Similar results were found for WAZ (0.21 lower) and BMIZ (0.36 lower). Youth height and HAZ were not associated with household dependency. These results may point toward increasing levels of human capital investments in Ethiopian youth as fertility levels decline and populations urbanize. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food insecurity not only affects physical growth and health of children but also their intellectual development, school attendance and academic performance. However, most evidences are based on studies in high income countries. Although food insecurity is common in Ethiopia, to what extent it affects school attendance and educational attainment of adolescents is not explored. We hypothesized that food insecure adolescents would be more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades attained after 1 year compared to their food secure peers. Methods: We used data from 2009 adolescents in the age group of 13-17 years from two consecutive surveys of a five year longitudinal family study in Southwest Ethiopia. A stratified random sampling was used to select participants. Regression analyses were used to compare school absenteeism and the highest grade attained after 1 year of follow-up in food secure and insecure adolescents. The analysis was adjusted for demographic factors, reported illness and workload. Results: Significantly more (33.0%) food insecure adolescents were absent from school compared with their food secure peers (17.8%, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that after adjusting for gender, place of residence and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity [OR 1.77 (1.34-2.33)], severe household food insecurity [OR 1.62 (1.27-2.06)], illness during the past one month before the survey [OR 2.26 (1.68- 3.06)], the highest grade aspired to be completed by the adolescent [OR 0.92 (0.88-0.96)], and the number of days that the adolescent had to work per week [OR 1.16 (1.07-1.26)] were independent predictors of school absenteeism. Similarly after controlling for household income and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity(P < 0.001), severe household food insecurity(P < 0.001), illness during the last month(P < 0.001) and rural residence(P < 0.001) were inversely associated with highest grade attained, while age of the adolescent(P < 0.001), the highest grade intended to be completed(P < 0.001) and residence in semi urban area(P < 0.001) were positively associated with the highest grade attained. Conclusions: Adolescent and household food insecurity are positively associated with school absenteeism and a lower educational attainment. Programs aiming to achieve universal access to primary education in food insecure environments should integrate interventions to ensure food security of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discuss various reports within the issue on topics including health and socioeconomic status among Hispanics, prevalence of child hunger among Somali refugees in Maine, and impact of food choices in cultural communities.

Objective: To measure the occurrence and correlates of food insufficiency among HIV-infected crack-cocaine users in Atlanta and Miami, USA. Design: Non-probability cross-sectional sample. Setting: Inner-city hospitals in Atlanta and Miami. Subjects: Two hundred and eighty-seven HIV-infected crack users. Results: One-third (34 %) of respondents experienced food insufficiency within 30 d of interview. Increased odds of food insufficiency was associated with current homelessness (adjusted O=53·78, 95% CI 1·70, 8·41), living alone (adjusted OR=2·85, 95% CI 1·36, 5·98), religious service attendance (adjusted OR=2·34, 95% CI 1·02, 5·38) and presence of health insurance (adjusted OR=2·41, 95% CI 1·06, 5·54). Monthly income greater than $US 600 (adjusted OR=0·19, 95% CI 0·06, 0·58) was associated with decreased odds of food insufficiency, and less than weekly crack use was marginally associated with decreased odds of food insufficiency (adjusted OR=0·39, 95% CI 0·13, 1·08). Conclusions: Food insufficiency is very prevalent among HIV-infected urban crack-cocaine users in Atlanta and Miami. Correlates of food insufficiency confirm the social vulnerability of these individuals. Routine assessment for food insecurity should become a routine component of treatment and prevention programmes in at-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of food insecurity in 281 refugees resettled in the United States. Participants were recruited through a resettlement center and word of mouth. In addition to measures of socioeconomic status, education, time in the U.S., and food insecurity, we also measured individual difficulty in navigating the food environment using a food difficulty scale. Only 23% of the sample did not endorse any of the food insecurity items. Nearly half of the sample also noted difficulty in navigating the food environment. Food insecurity scores above the median were predicted by both income and non-income variables. In a multivariable logistic model, income and having more than one year of education were associated with lower food insecurity (p < .05), while “difficulty in the food environment” was associated with high food insecurity (p < .01). Results suggest that income is an important constraint but that non-income variables may also be important determinants of food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns in infant and young child feeding behaviors have been the focus of much anthropological, nutritional, and demographic exploration because of their relationship to morbidity and mortality. Researchers often label these patterns as cultural, which, by definition, means that the patterns are linked to ideational factors that are shared within cultural groups. Although widely discussed, empirical tests of the shared aspect of this theory are lacking. We hypothesized a broad match between attitudes about early child feeding practices and feeding practices at the population level. We also hypothesized that proxy indicators of interaction frequency between mothers would predict sharing in responses to a set of statements about infant feeding. Data from four different ethnic groups living in two sites in rural Tanzania are examined to test these hypotheses. The results indicate that mothers' attitudes do not correspond to current public health recommendations for infant and young child feeding. Moreover, site- and ethnic-group-level differences emerge that may be consistent with the social learning hypothesis. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 2008 food crisis may have increased household food insecurity and caused distress among impoverished populations in low-income countries. Policy researchers have attempted to quantify the impact that a sharp rise in food prices might have on population wellbeing by asking what proportion of households would drop below conventional poverty lines given a set increase in prices. Our understanding of the impact of food crises can be extended by conducting micro-level ethnographic studies. This study examined self-reported household food insecurity (FI) and common mental disorders (CMD) among 110 community health AIDS care volunteers living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during the height of the 2008 food crisis. We used generalized estimating equations that account for associations between responses given by the same participants over 3 survey rounds during 2008, to model the longitudinal response profiles of FI, CMD symptoms, and socio-behavioral and micro-economic covariates. To help explain the patterns observed in the response profiles and regression results, we examine qualitative data that contextualize the cognition and reporting behavior of AIDS care volunteers, as well as potential observation biases inherent in longitudinal, community-based research. Our data show that food insecurity is highly prevalent, that is it associated with household economic factors, and that it is linked to mental health. Surprisingly, the volunteers in this urban sample did not report increasingly severe FI or CMD during the peak of the 2008 food crisis. This is a counter-intuitive result that would not be predicted in analyses of population-level data such as those used in econometrics simulations. But when these results are linked to real people in specific urban ecologies, they can improve our understanding of the psychosocial consequences of food price shocks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Study Design: Community-based cross-sectional analysis of the relation between symptoms of psychopathology and back pain (BP) or neck pain (NP) in rural southwest Ethiopia.Objective: Using data from a community-based sample, we assessed the prevalence and psychopathologic correlates of BP or NP in rural sub-Saharan Africa.Summary Of Background Data: BP and NP are among the most prevalent pain conditions. Psychopathology has been shown to be associated with both BP and NP in developed and urban developing contexts. Little is known about the relation between psychopathology and BP or NP in the rural, developing context.Methods: Data on self-reported BP and NP, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (PTS), gender, age, and socioeconomic status were collected from a representative cohort sample (N = 900) in rural southwest Ethiopia. We calculated univariate statistics to assess the prevalence of BP and NP. We used bivariate χ2 tests and multivariate logistic regression models to assess the relation between psychopathology and BP and NP.Results: The prevalence of BP was 16.7%; that of NP was 5.0%. In χ2 analyses, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTS were significantly associated with increased risk for each outcome. In models adjusted for age, household assets, and gender, depression symptomatology was associated with increased risk for BP (OR = 3.44, 95% CI: 2.37-5.00) and NP (OR = 4.92, 95% CI: 2.49-9.74). Anxiety symptomatology was also associated with increased risk for BP (OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.98-4.20) and NP (OR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.41-5.09). PTS symptomatology was associated with increased risk for BP (OR = 2.89, 95% CI: 1.78-4.69).Conclusion: In the first known study about the relation between psychopathologic symptomatology and BP and NP in a rural context in a developing country, the prevalence of BP and NP were comparable to published data in developed and developing countries. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were correlates of BP and NP, and symptoms of PTS were a correlate of BP. Comparative studies about the relation between psychopathology and chronic pain conditions between rural and urban contexts in the global south are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that investigates female autonomy and women's health relationship. The study assessed measures of women autonomy such as ownership, control over buying and decision making through extensive questionnaires. Results show that freedom-related and control autonomy has lower depression levels and systolic blood pressure, while decision making autonomy has higher depressive and diastolic blood pressure. Moreover, autonomy and health relation was suggested to be complex.

Background: Food insecurity (FI) has been shown to be associated with poor health both in developing and developed countries. Little is known about the relation between FI and neurological disorder. We assessed the relation between FI and risk for neurologic symptoms in southwest Ethiopia. Methods: Data about food security, gender, age, household assets, and self-reported neurologic symptoms were collected from a representative, community-based sample of adults (N = 900) in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. We calculated univariate statistics and used bivariate chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression models to assess the relation between FI and risk of neurologic symptoms including seizures, extremity weakness, extremity numbness, tremors/ataxia, aphasia, carpal tunnel syndrome, vision dysfunction, and spinal pain. Results: In separate multivariate models by outcome and gender, adjusting for age and household socioeconomic status, severe FI was associated with higher odds of seizures, movement abnormalities, carpal tunnel, vision dysfunction, spinal pain, and comorbid disorders among women. Severe FI was associated with higher odds of seizures, extremity numbness, movement abnormalities, difficulty speaking, carpal tunnel, vision dysfunction, and comorbid disorders among men. Conclusion: We found that FI was associated with symptoms of neurologic disorder. Given the cross-sectional nature of our study, the directionality of these associations is unclear. Future research should assess causal mechanisms relating FI to neurologic symptoms in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence and predictors of discrimination among a community-based sample of refugees resettled in the USA. We sought to test whether language, gender, time in the USA and country of origin were associated with the experience of discrimination among individuals resettled in the USA as part of the refugee resettlement program. Perceived discrimination was assessed among individuals from East Africa ( n = 92), West Africa ( n = 74), and from Eastern Europe ( n = 112) using a multi-item measure of discrimination. Bivariate associations revealed statistically significant associations between experiences of discrimination and time in the USA, language ability, and sending country. A logistic regression model revealed that refugees from African sending countries were more likely than Eastern European individuals to experience discrimination, even after controlling for potentially confounding factors. We interpret this finding as evidence of racism and discuss the implications for population health and resettlement practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies focusing on Latino immigrant health have found links between acculturation (time and language competency), weight gain, and disease risk. Since time and language competency are not mechanisms by which diets and activities change, associations between acculturation and weight change offer little to public health professionals who aim to develop nutrition and health interventions. We present a conceptual model and use a mixed-methods biocultural approach to address the fine-grained details of diet and activity choice for new arrivals to the USA. The results of our anthropological work with Liberian and Somali Bantu refugees indicate that, in addition to standard surveys (individual-level characteristics, socioeconomic status, employment, and acculturation), epidemiological research would benefit from the data generated from ethnography and more nuanced behavioral studies. A focus on the lived experiences of new Americans and the explicit examination of institutional support, peer support, and interactions between children and caretakers might offer points of intervention for immigrant health which is a growing public health concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective in this study was to assess the validity and dependability of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), which was developed for international use, among community health volunteers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The HFIAS was translated into Amharic and subsequently tested for content and face validity. This was followed by a quantitative validation study based on a representative sample In = 991 of female community volunteers (HIV/AIDS home- based caregiversl, with whom the HFIAS was administered at 3 time points over the course of 2008, in the context of the local and global "food crisis." By pooling observations across data collection rounds and accounting for intra-individual correlation in repeated measures, we found that the HFIAS performed well according to standards in the field. We also observed slight amelioration in reported food insecurity (Fl) status over time, which seems paradoxical given the increasing inaccessibility of food over the same time period due to inflating prices and disappearing food aid. We attempted to resolve this paradox by appealing to self-report-related phenomena that arise in the context of longitudinal study designs: 11 observation bias, in which respondents change their reports according to changing expectations of the observer-respondent relationship or change their behavior in ways that ameliorate Fl after baseline self-reports; and 2) "response shift," in which respondents change their reports according to reassessment of internal standards of Fl. Our results are important for the validation of Fl tools and for the sustainability of community health programs reliant on volunteerism in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity is a significant problem in the developing world, and one that is likely to increase given the current global food crisis spurred by rising oil prices, conversion of food to biofuels, and reduced harvests in the wake of natural disasters. The impacts of food insecurity on nutrition status, growth, and development are well substantiated; less is known about the non-nutritional impacts of food insecurity, such as its effects on mental health. This systematic review assesses current findings regarding the impacts of food insecurity on mental health in developing countries. Both qualitative and quantitative studies are considered. The results of the search reveal that little work has examined these issues directly, and serious methodological flaws are present in many of the existing studies. Gaps in the literature, implications, and research priorities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses considerations in employing culture and epidemiology towards the integrated study of culture and population health. It provides the key steps in a cultural epidemiology research program including the limitations of kinds of studies on causal relationship between culture and health, the interpretation of the results of the study, and the locus of where the culture acted that must be considered with reference to individual, microsocial, or macrosocial processes.

Background: There is increasing interest in the social determinants of children's developmental outcomes in developing countries because of the links with schooling, behavioral, and employment outcomes. Yet, little is known about the impact of household and caretaker variables in influencing developmental outcomes in rural, developing country settings. Aim: The study examined the relative impact of individual and household variables and caretaker symptoms of common mental disorders on children's personal-social, fine and gross motor, and language development. Subjects and methods: A total of 431 children aged 3-24 months in a rural Ethiopian setting were studied. Children underwent a developmental assessment and parents independently provided information on household characteristics and were administered anxiety and depression symptom inventories. Results: In adjusted multivariable models, maternal symptoms of mental disorders were associated with both global development and most developmental sub-scales (p < 0.01) except language developmental; there was no consistent relation between paternal symptoms of mental disorders and child development. Nutritional stunting was generally a risk factor for lower developmental scores but few household-level variables were associated with child development. Conclusion: Child development in this setting is strongly associated with child age and maternal depression. If these findings are replicated elsewhere, they may suggest that interventions aimed at improving maternal depression may have an important role to play in efforts to improve child development and to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of poor health in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the symptoms of anxiety and depression in relation to seasonal changes in household food insecurity. The author explains that burdens of disease in developing countries are caused by common mental health disorders. He mentions that seasonal changes in food insecurity are correlated with concomitant changes in measures of anxiety symptoms.

Abstract: Food insecurity is a pressing public health concern in many developing countries. Despite widespread interest in the sociocultural determinants of food insecurity, little is known about whether youths living in food insecure households experience food insecurity. The buffering hypothesis reviewed here assumes that, to the extent possible, adult members of households will buffer younger household members from the ill effects of food insecurity. A variant of the buffering hypothesis argues that only certain members of the households will enjoy the benefits of buffering. We hypothesize that within the context of Ethiopia, where girls have historically experienced discrimination, buffering is preferentially aimed at boys, especially as the household experiences greater levels of food stress. These hypotheses are tested using data from a population-based study of 2084 adolescents living in southwestern Ethiopia. Results indicate that boys and girls were equally likely to be living in severely food insecure households. Despite no differences in their households’ food insecurity status, girls were more likely than boys to report being food insecure themselves. This gender difference was the largest in severely food insecure households. This same pattern was observed when comparing male–female sibling pairs living in the same household. These results are among the first to show that household level measures of food insecurity predict adolescent experiences of food insecurity, and that in the Ethiopian socio-cultural context, the relationship between household level food insecurity and adolescent food insecurity varies by gender. We also show that adolescent food insecurity is strongly associated with measures of general health and well-being. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Sukuma ethnic group appears to be expanding across Tanzania at a rate far greater than other ethnic groups in the area. In this paper, the household-level dynamics that may be fueling this expansion are explored by comparing measures of infant mortality and child health with another Tanzanian ethnic group, the Pimbwe. Consistent with expectations, the Sukuma appear to have comparable levels of fertility but lower child mortality. As predicted, compared to the Pimbwe, Sukuma children are also heavier and taller for their age, suggesting better nutritional status. Four hypotheses about why the Sukuma are so successful in this area are addressed. Surprisingly, the results show that household food security and wealth are not related to children's nutritional status, nor can maternal effects account for the observed health differences. Several lines of evidence suggest that different patterns of infant feeding practices may underlie the differences in children's nutritional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Anthropologists and demographers have devoted considerable attention to testing the fertility-polygyny hypothesis, which posits that polygynously married women have lower fertility than their monogamously married counterparts. Much less attention has been paid to the potential impact of polygynous marriages on the health and well-being of children. The objective of this paper was to assess whether polygynous marital status is a risk factor for poor nutritional status and growth performance among a cohort of young Tanzanian children. Using data collected from both wet and dry season periods, we tested for an association from both cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives. Despite relatively high nutritional status compared to other agropastoralists and horticultural populations, as well as the presence of various socioecological factors that were expected to mitigate any "costs" to polygynous marriage, we found that among our target population, polygynous marital status is a risk factor for poor growth performance. This association is most pronounced in the wet season, and maintains even after allowing for the potential influences of child age and sex, and household characteristics. These results counter our original expectation, and suggest that polygyny is costly to children in this population; this does not appear to be the result of difference in early child environment or household wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines whether mother's kin network size in Tanzania predicts several measures of children's health and well-being, and whether any kin effects are modified by household socioeconomic status. This hypothesis is further tested with a questionnaire on maternal attitudes towards kin. Results show small associations between measures of maternal kin network size and child mortality and children's growth performance. Together these results suggest that kin positively influence child health, but the effects are small and it is unlikely that the high prevalence of undernutrition observed in this setting is influenced by the availability of kin.

The article presents information related to the use of ultimatum game for measuring norms of fairness and concerns over inequality within and between groups. The study was done with individuals from Pimbwe and Sukuma, two sympatricethnic groups of Tanzania experiencing similar physical environmental conditions and state political forces. These groups live interspersed in several villages in Rukwa region, the northern section of southwestern Tanzania. Differences in the scope of institutions between these ethnic groups is pointed by ethnohistorical data. The result of the study suggests that for exposing differences between groups in their penchant for sharing and punishing, this game is a valid instrument.

Lycopene, the predominant carotenoid in tomatoes, is hypothesized to mediate the health benefits of tomato products. We designed a study to examine the change in plasma lycopene and resistance of lipoproteins to ex vivo oxidative stress. Healthy individuals (n = 60; age >40 y; 30 men/30 women) consumed a lycopene-free diet for 1 wk and were subsequently randomized to receive 35 +/- 1, 23 +/- 1 or 25 +/- 1 mg lycopene/d from Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup (CS), Campbell's Ready To Serve Tomato Soup (RTS) or V8 Vegetable Juice (V8), respectively, for 15 d. Total plasma lycopene concentrations decreased from 0.499 +/- 0.044 to 0.322 +/- 0.027 (35%, P < 0.0001) micro mol/L for the 60 participants during the 7-d washout period. After intervention, total lycopene concentrations increased for those consuming CS, RTS and V8 (compared with the washout period for each group) to 0.784 +/- 0.083 (123%, P < 0.0001), 0.545 +/- 0.061 (57%, P < 0.01) and 0.569 +/- 0.061 (112%, P < 0.0001) micro mol/L, respectively. The concentrations of all lycopene isomers decreased during the washout period. As a percentage of plasma total lycopene isomers for the 60 subjects, all-trans-lycopene decreased from 44.4 +/- 1.2 to 39.6 +/- 1.2 (P < 0.0001), whereas total cis-lycopene isomers increased from 55.6 +/- 1.2 to 60.4 +/- 1.2 (P < 0.0001) during the washout period, a shift that was reversed by consumption of tomato products for 15 d. The ex vivo lipoprotein oxidation lag period, used as a measure of antioxidant capacity, increased significantly from 64.7 +/- 2.4 min at the end of the washout period (all groups) to 70.1 +/- 4.0 (P < 0.05), 68.3 +/- 2.4 (P < 0.05) and 71.7 +/- 4.0 min (P < 0.01) after treatment for the CS, RTS and V8 groups, respectively. This study shows that lycopene concentrations and isomer patterns change rapidly with variation in dietary intake. In addition, 15 d of tomato product consumption significantly enhanced the protection of lipoproteins to ex vivo oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study concerned with the human male's reproductive strategies in a polygynous society. The study related to the implications of parental investment for mating strategies was conducted on human societies who lived in the Utah territory. It was found that human females usually prefer wealthy males and therefore wealthy males generally enjoy high reproductive success. As a result, it is concluded that human male's ability to fulfill a pure mating strategy is dependent on the amount of wealth he possess.