The effects of lifestyle change on indicators of cardiometabolic health in semi-nomadic pastoralists. 2023

Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Non-communicable disease risk and the epidemic of cardiometabolic diseases continue to grow across the expanding industrialized world. Probing the relationships between evolved human physiology and modern socioecological conditions is central to understanding this health crisis. Therefore, we investigated the relationships between increased market access, shifting subsistence patterns and cardiometabolic health indicators within Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralists who vary in their engagement in traditional lifestyle and emerging market behaviors. We conducted cross-sectional socioecological, demographic and lifestyle stressor surveys along with health, biomarker and nutrition examinations among 225 (51.6% female) Daasanach adults in 2019-2020. We used linear mixed-effects models to test how differing levels of engagement in market integration and traditional subsistence activities related to blood pressure (BP), body composition and blood chemistry. We found that systolic and diastolic BP, as well as the probability of having high BP (hypertension), were negatively associated with distance to market, a proxy for market integration. Additionally, body composition varied significantly by socioeconomic status (SES), with significant positive associations between BMI and body fat and higher SES among adults. While evidence for evolutionary mismatch and health variation have been found across a number of populations affected by an urban/rural divide, these results demonstrate the effects of market integration and sedentarization on cardiometabolic health associated with the early stages of lifestyle changes. Our findings provide evidence for the changes in health when small-scale populations begin the processes of sedentarization and market integration that result from myriad market pressures.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
June 2008, Health & place,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
August 2012, Epidemiology and infection,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
December 1983, East African medical journal,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
May 2006, Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
September 2019, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
December 1983, Human biology,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
August 1987, Human biology,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
July 2018, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
May 1989, American journal of physical anthropology,
Zane S Swanson, and Hilary Bethancourt, and Rosemary Nzunza, and Emmanuel Ndiema, and David R Braun, and Asher Y Rosinger, and Herman Pontzer
September 2000, American journal of physical anthropology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!