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Undernutrition, illness and children's work in an agricultural rain forest community of Madagascar
Abstract
Child nutrition, illness and behavior are studied during the first baseline health surveys for Ranomafana National Park in the southeastern rain forest of Madagascar. Research objectives include: (1) documenting the prevalence and causes of undernutrition and illness, (2) evaluating the dietary importance of forest resources, (3) demonstrating how undernutrition affects children's work and social activities, and (4) examining the utility of resource shortage behavioral models in conservation-development management. Anthropometric, dietary, time allocation and socioeconomic data were collected during a 1989 cross-sectional health survey of 613 0 to 9 year old children in 7 representative communities, and during a 1990-91 multi-season study of 40 6 to 9 year old children and their households. Respiratory infections, malaria, helminths, scabies and diarrhea are the major illnesses. Chronic undernutrition and illness result from poor sanitation and frequent resort to alternative staples, which are deficient in nutrients compared to the ideal meal of rice, greens and legumes or meat. Nevertheless, in addition to rice production, cultivating a variety of these staples is important for obtaining food security, green leafy vegetables, and good child growth status in a land and labor limited environment. In the 1989 dry season, 9.4% of the children fall below $-$2 s.d. weight/height. This proportion increases in the wet season. Six to nine year old children become more sedentary around $-$1.5 s.d. weight/height, although their play and productive behavior is surprisingly varied until about $-$3 s.d. weight/height, or below 1000 kilocalories intake. This low weight/height status or caloric intake is likely if alternative staples are eaten more than one meal per day. The children's households demonstrate retrenchment coping strategies, or moderately irreversible levels of household commitment of assets. Some foods come from the forest, more so during harsh cyclones, but the sale of forest products becomes important much earlier to obtain cash to buy food. While extremely dependent on forest resources for household products and cash, the poorest households were not the largest forest exploiters. Some elements of the resource shortage models, with local modification, may be useful for long-term monitoring in conservation-development management. These surveys are the protocol for other Malagasy park projects.
Subject Area
Physical anthropology|Nutrition|Cultural anthropology|Public health
Recommended Citation
Hardenbergh, Sabrina Helen Bennett, "Undernutrition, illness and children's work in an agricultural rain forest community of Madagascar" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9408286.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9408286