Understanding Growth and Malnutrition in Baka Pygmy Children

Understanding Growth and Malnutrition in Baka Pygmy Children

We determined stunting, wasting, and obesity frequencies in a total 1092 2-to-12 year old Baka Pygmy children from anthropometric and health data gathered in 34 villages in the Djoum-Mintom region in southeastern Cameroon in four health campaigns in 2010 and 2017–9. We compare these to the WHO Child...

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Published in:Human ecology : an interdisciplinary journal Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 293 - 306
Main Authors: Funk, Stephan M., Palomo Guerra, Belén, Bueno Zamora, Amalia, Ickowitz, Amy, Poni, Nicias Afoumpam, Abdou, Mohamadou Aminou, Sibama, Yaya Hadam, Penda, René, Ros Brull, Guillermo, Abossolo, Martin, Martín, Eva Ávila, Okale, Robert, Ze, Blaise Ango, Moreno Carrión, Ananda, García Sebastián, Cristina, Ruiz de Loizaga García, Cristina, López-Romero Salazar, Francisco, Amazia, Hissein, Álvarez Reyes, Idoia, Sánchez Expósito, Rafaela, Fa, Julia E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01-06-2020
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Age determination
Anthropology
Body height
Body weight
Child development
Children
Children & youth
Chronology
Environmental Management
Genetics
Geography
Health promotion
Malnutrition
Obesity
Overweight
Population
Population growth
Population studies
Social Sciences
Sociology
Sustainable development
Tropical forests
Underweight
Villages
Cameroon
Baka
WHO child growth standards
Central Africa
Health
Indigenous peoples
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Summary:We determined stunting, wasting, and obesity frequencies in a total 1092 2-to-12 year old Baka Pygmy children from anthropometric and health data gathered in 34 villages in the Djoum-Mintom region in southeastern Cameroon in four health campaigns in 2010 and 2017–9. We compare these to the WHO Child Growth Standards, Amazonian Tsiname growth references for inter-population comparisons and the study population itself. Population-specific growth charts were constructed using GAMLSS modelling. Our results show that Baka children have one of the highest global rates of stunting relative to the WHO child growth standard with 57.8% for 2-to-12 year olds and 64% and 73% for 2-to-4 year old girls and boys, respectively. Frequencies of wasting, overweight, and low BMI were low at 3.4%, 4.6% and 4.3%, respectively, for 2-to-12 year olds. Underweight was at 25.5%, in the upper range for sub-Saharan Africa. Edemas indicated rare severe malnutrition (0.3%). Uncertainties in age estimation had dramatic effects on the reliability of estimated individual z-scores but distributions of z-scores were robust at a population level. In the context of the recent evidence for genetic adaptation of the Pygmies’ small stature to the tropical forest environment we argue that WHO child standards for weight and BMI are applicable. However, standards for height are clearly not adequate for Pygmy people. To achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals, we recommend that Pygmy specific growth standards are developed for the various, genetically differing Pygmy tribes.
ISSN:0300-7839
1572-9915
DOI:10.1007/s10745-020-00161-5