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Physical activity, energy stores, and seasonal energy balance among men and women in Nepali households
Author(s) -
PanterBrick Catherine
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6300(1996)8:2<263::aid-ajhb12>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - basal metabolic rate , anthropometry , demography , energy balance , population , energy expenditure , body mass index , gerontology , medicine , zoology , biology , ecology , endocrinology , sociology
The relationships among initial energy stores (body mass index), energy turnover (physical activity levels), and seasonal energy balance (weight changes) were examined in subsistence agropastoralists in rural Nepal. The population experiences no actual food shortage, but has a seasonal increase in physical activity levels, which are moderately heavy in early winter and very heavy in the monsoon season [men, 1.88 and 2.22 × basal metabolic rate (BMR); women, 1.77 and 2.01 × BMR in the respective seasons]. Repeated anthropometry in 1982 (29 men and 34 women), 1983 (29 men and 29 women), 1991 (22 men and 48 women), and 1993 (48 men and 72 women) showed a consistent interannual pattern of significant but modest seasonal weight change (<4% of initial values) and remarkable interindividual variation (men, −5.6 to 5.6 kg; women, −5.6 to 4.8 kg). Thinner individuals showed no significant change in body weight or workloads, and sustained high levels of total energy expenditure throughout the year. Heavier individuals lost weight (men −2.7 kg, women −0.9 kg) and increased total energy expenditure by 23% over the same period. Elements of lifestyle, especially during the season of less constraining workloads, allow for the continuation of hard work or taking a respite for nutritional recovery. The nature of household labor organization, featuring a highly flexible distribution of tasks, also contributes to the relatively short‐term, reversible changes in energy balance in this population. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.