Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-tldsr Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-11-03T20:41:01.268Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of birth interval and child labour on family energy requirements and dependency ratios in two traditional subsistence economics in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Stanley J. Ulijaszek
Stanley J. Ulijaszek
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The consequences of different birth intervals on dietary energy requirements and dependency ratios at different stages of the family lifecycle are modelled for Gambian agriculturalists and !Kung hunter–gatherers. Energy requirements reach a peak at between 20 and 30 years after starting a family for the Gambians, and between 15 and 20 years for the !Kung. For the Gambians, shorter birth interval of 30 months. For the !Kung, the lack of participation in subsistence activities by children gives an output:input ratio in excess of that reported in other studies, suggesting that they are in a state of chronic energy deficiency.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1993 , pp. 79 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bentley, G. R. (1985) Hunter-gatherer energetics and fertility: a reassessment of the Kung San. Hum. Ecol. 13, 79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billewicz, W. Z. & McGregor, I. A. (1982) A birth to maturity longitudinal study of heights and weights in two West African (Gambian) villages, 1951–1975. Ann. hum. Biol. 9, 309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delgado, H. L., Valverde, V. & Hurtado, E. (1985) Lactation in rural Guatemala: nutritional effects on the mother and the infant. Food Nutr. Bull. 7, 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draper, P. (1976) Social and economic constraints on child life among the Kung. In: Kalahari Hunter–Gatherers. Edited by Lee, R. B & De Vore, I. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Dugdale, A. E. & Payne, P. R. (1987) A model of seasonal changes in energy balance. Ecol. Food. Nutr. 19, 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fao/Who/unu (1985) Energy and Protein Requirements. Technical Report Series No. 724. World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Fox, R. H. (1953) A Study of the Energy Expenditure of Africans Engaged in Various Activities, with Special Reference to Some Environmental and Physiological Factors which may Influence the Efficiency of Their Work. PhD thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Haswell, M. R. (1953) Economics of Agriculture in a Savannah Village. Colonial Research Study No. 8, HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Howell, N. (1979) Demography of the Dobe Kung. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. (1965) Subsistence Ecology of Kung Bushmen. PhD thesis. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. (1968) What hunters do for a living, or, how to make out on scarce resources. In: Man the Hunter. Edited by Lee, R. B & DeVore, IAldine de Gruyter, New York.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. (1969) HKung Bushman subsistence: input-output analysis. In: Environment and Cultural Behaviour. Edited by Vayda, A. P. Natural History Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lunn, P. G., Austin, S, Prentice, A. M. & Whitehead, R. G. (1984) The effect of improved nutrition on plasma prolactin concentrations and postpartum infertility in lactating Gambian women. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 39, 227.Google ScholarPubMed
Mueller, E. (1976) The economic value of children in peasant agriculture. In: Population and Development: the Search for Selective Interventions. Edited by Ridker, R. G. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Nag, M., White, B. N. F. & Peet, R. C. (1978) An anthropological approach to the study of the economic value of children in Java and Nepal. Curr. Anthrop. 19, 293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norgan, N. G., Ferro-Luzzi, A. & Durnin, J. V. G. A. (1974) The energy and nutrient intake and the energy expenditure of 204 New Guinean adults. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 268, 309.Google ScholarPubMed
Schofield, W. N. (1985) Predicting basal metabolic rate, new standards and review of previous work. Hum. Nutr.: Clin. Nutr. 39C, Suppl. 1, 5.Google Scholar
Strickland, S. S. (1990) Traditional economics and patterns of nutritional disease. In: Diet and Disease. Edited by Harrison, G. A & Waterlow, J. C. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Truswell, A. S. & Hansen, J. D. L. (1976) Medical research among the Kung. In: Kalahari Hunter–Gatherers. Edited by Lee, R. B & DeVore, I. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Turke, P. W. (1988) Helpers at the nest: childcare networks on Ifaluk. In: Human Reproductive Behaviour: a Darwinian Perspective. Edited by Betzig, L, Borgerhoff Mulder, M & Turke, P, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ulijaszek, S. J. (1987) Nutrition and Anthropometry: with Special Reference to Populations in Papua New Guinea and the United Kingdom. PhD thesis, University of London.Google Scholar