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High Altitude Hypoxia, Culture, and Human Fecundity/Fertility: A Comparative Study
Author(s) -
Goldstein Melvyn C.,
Tsarong Paljor,
Beall Cynthia M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1983.85.1.02a00020
Subject(s) - fecundity , fertility , demography , altitude (triangle) , hypoxia (environmental) , population , confounding , effects of high altitude on humans , low altitude , biology , geography , total fertility rate , ecology , medicine , research methodology , sociology , family planning , chemistry , geometry , mathematics , organic chemistry , oxygen , anatomy
This paper presents new demographic findings for a high altitude Himalayan population residing in Ladakh, India, and reviews problematic issues regarding the hypothesized relationship between fertility/fecundity and altitude in the Himalayas in light of these findings. It concludes that the low completed fertility ratio reported for the Sherpas of Khumbu, Nepal, is not caused by hypoxia‐induced low fecundity, but is the product of cultural factors affecting the exposure of females to the risk of intercourse, a critical confounding factor that has not received adequate consideration in previous studies. Contrary to earlier reports, the present study demonstrates that all high altitude Himalayan populations for which published data exist exhibit moderately high fertility and fecundity, and do not differ significantly in their fertility levels. Furthermore, it argues that the claims for a statistically significant difference in fertility between high, moderate, and low altitude Himalayan populations are groundless, and suggests that a parallel reevaluation of Andean findings is required. [fertility, fecundity, hypoxia, Himalayas, Andes]