Sexual minority status is associated with earlier recalled age of menarche: Evidence from the 2005-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Menarcheal timing is associated with growth, development, health, wellbeing, and reproduction across the lifespan. Although sexual orientation is a known correlate of health and developmental inequities, relatively little evolutionarily framed research has investigated sexual orientation-based variation in maturational timing. To improve our understanding of menarcheal timing among sexual minority (SM) people, we use a biocultural-evolutionary life history lens that takes into account the stresses of minoritization to examine the relationship between sexual orientation and self-reported age at menarche in a sample of American adults. METHODS: Using the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a large, nationally representative dataset (n = 9757), we fit multiple logistic regression models and survival curves to evaluate associations between sexual orientation, indicators of somatic and material resources during adolescence (e.g., education, citizenship, upper arm length), and self-reported menarche. RESULTS: SM respondents were more likely to report earlier (by 4-5 months) ages of menarche (p < .001). Post-hoc tests revealed that these differences were driven by bisexual (p < .001) and same-sex experienced (p < .001) relative to heterosexual and lesbian/gay respondents. Earlier menarcheal timing among SM respondents persisted after adjusting for socio-demographic factors and proxies of developmental conditions. DISCUSSION: Our findings reveal that SM status is associated with earlier ages of menarche, an important social and reproductive milestone. We argue that uniting life history theory with the minority stress hypothesis better explains differences in menarcheal timing by sexual orientation than previous paradigms. Investigators should attend to sexual orientation-based variation in maturational timing using holistic, inclusive approaches.

More voices are always better: Tackling power differentials in knowledge production and access in human biology.

OBJECTIVE: Academic human biology seeks to characterize and explain human biocultural variation in terms of adaptations to local environments. Understanding and educating about such variation, if not carried out thoughtfully, can reinforce power asymmetries around who can produce and access the knowledge, and in what ways and places. One of many factors contributing to power inequities in knowledge production and access concerns histories of state-driven colonization, with people(s) dispossessed of land through colonization generally having relatively less power. Because human biologists disproportionately work with communities/sub-populations living in marginal environments, most of which have been moved, dispossessed, and/or reconfigured through colonization, we are prone to reproducing these land-related power imbalances but we are also well-situated to level them. METHODS: Here, we do three things we hope will move us toward research and teaching practices that recognize and begin to disrupt colonial power inequities in human biology knowledge production and access. RESULTS: First, after defining terms core to understanding the power matrices at stake, we outline likely benefits to human biologists of using anticolonial approaches. Second, we highlight two frameworks offering anticolonial tools (community-based participatory research and "two-eyed seeing"). Third, we suggest several practical, behavioral changes to make and skills to develop for human biologists looking to shift power balances. CONCLUSION: We conclude by reflecting on our own positions along the colonially rooted power gradients structuring human biology. We argue that doing so constitutes an essential early step toward creating anticolonial spaces for more ethical and just production, consumption, and application of knowledge.

Toolkit article: Approaches to measuring social inequities in health in human biology research.

Across populations, human morbidity and mortality risks generally follow clear gradients, with socially-disadvantaged individuals and groups tending to have higher morbidity and mortality at all life stages relative to those more socially advantaged. Anthropologists specialize in understanding the proximate and ultimate factors that shape variation in human biological functioning and health and are therefore well-situated to explore the relationships between social position and health in diverse ecological and cultural contexts. While human biologists have developed sophisticated methods for assessing health using minimally-invasive methods, at a disciplinary level, we have room for conceptual and methodological improvement in how we frame, measure, and analyze the social inequities that might shape health inequities. This toolkit paper elaborates on some steps human biologists should take to enhance the quality of our research on health inequities. Specifically, we address: (1) how to frame unequal health outcomes (i.e., inequalities vs. disparities vs. inequities) and the importance of identifying our conceptual models of how these inequities emerge; (2) how to measure various axes of social inequities across diverse cultural contexts, and (3) approaches to community collaboration and dissemination. We end by discussing (4) future directions in human biology research of health inequities, including understanding the ultimate causes of sensitivity to social inequities and transitioning from research to action.

Investigating the normalization and normative views of gestational weight gain: Balancing recommendations with the promotion and support of healthy pregnancy diets.

OBJECTIVES: Gestational weight gain (GWG) is increasingly monitored in the United States and Canada. While promoting healthy GWG offers benefits, there may be costs with over-surveillance. We aimed to explore these costs/benefits. METHODS: Quantitative data from 350 pregnant survey respondents and qualitative focus group data from 43 pregnant/post-partum and care-provider participants were collected in the Mothers to Babies (M2B) study in Hamilton, Canada. We report descriptive statistics and discussion themes on GWG trajectories, advice, knowledge, perceptions, and pregnancy diet. Relationships between GWG monitoring/normalization and worry, knowledge, diet quality, and sociodemographics-namely low-income and racialization-were assessed using χ2 tests and a linear regression model and contextualized with focus group data. RESULTS: Most survey respondents reported GWG outside recommended ranges but rejected the mid-20th century cultural norm of "eating for two"; many worried about gaining excessively. Conversely, respondents living in very low-income households were more likely to be gaining less than recommended GWG and to worry about gaining too little. A majority had received advice about GWG, yet half were unable to identify the range recommended for their prepregnancy BMI. This proportion was even lower for racialized respondents. Pregnancy diet quality was associated with household income, but not with receipt or understanding of GWG guidance. Care-providers encouraged normalized GWG, while worrying about the consequences of pathologizing "abnormal" GWG. CONCLUSIONS: Translation of GWG recommendations should be done with a critical understanding of GWG biological normalcy. Supportive GWG monitoring and counseling should consider clinical, socioeconomic, and community contexts.

Synergies between the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease framework and multiple branches of evolutionary anthropology.

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis derives from the epidemiological and basic/mechanistic health sciences. This well-supported hypothesis holds that environment during the earliest stages of life-pre-conception, pregnancy, infancy-shapes developmental trajectories and ultimately health outcomes across the lifespan. Evolutionary anthropologists from multiple subdisciplines are embracing synergies between the DOHaD framework and developmentalist approaches from evolutionary biology. Even wider dissemination and employment of DOHaD concepts will benefit evolutionary anthropological research. Insights from experimental DOHaD work will focus anthropologists' attention on biochemical/physiological mechanisms underpinning observed links between growth/health/behavioral outcomes and environmental contexts. Furthermore, the communication tools and wide public appeal of developmentalist health scientific research may facilitate the translation/application of evolutionary anthropological findings. Evolutionary Anthropology, in turn, can increase mainstream DOHaD research's use of evolutionary theory; holistic, longitudinal, and community-based perspectives; and engagement with populations whose environmental exposures differ from those most commonly studied in the health sciences.

Knowledge about the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is independently associated with variation in diet quality during pregnancy.

Environmental factors affecting development through embryogenesis, pregnancy, and infancy impact health through all subsequent stages of life. Known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis, this concept is widely accepted among health and social scientists. However, it is unclear whether DOHaD-based ideas are reaching the general public and/or influencing behaviour. This study thus investigated whether and under what circumstances pregnant people in Canada are familiar with DOHaD, and if DOHaD familiarity relates to eating behaviour. Survey responses from pregnant people from Hamilton, Canada, were used to assess respondents' knowledge of DOHaD (hereafter, DOHaDKNOWLEDGE ) compared with their knowledge of more general pregnancy health recommendations (Pregnancy GuidelineKNOWLEDGE ). The survey also characterized respondents' pregnancy diet quality and sociodemographic profiles. We fit two multiple, linear, mixed regression models to the data, one with DOHaDKNOWLEDGE score as the dependent variable and the other with diet quality score as the dependent. In both models, responses were clustered by respondents' neighbourhoods. Complete, internally consistent responses were available for 330 study-eligible respondents. Relative to Pregnancy GuidelineKNOWLEDGE , respondents had lower, more variable DOHaDKNOWLEDGE scores. Additionally, higher DOHaDKNOWLEDGE was associated with higher socio-economic position, older age, and lower parity, independent of Pregnancy GuidelineKNOWLEDGE . Diet quality during pregnancy was positively associated with DOHaDKNOWLEDGE , adjusting for sociodemographic factors. A subset of relatively high socio-economic position respondents was familiar with DOHaD. Greater familiarity with DOHaD was associated with better pregnancy diet quality, hinting that translating DOHaD knowledge to pregnant people may motivate improved pregnancy nutrition and thus later-life health for developing babies.

Energy-related influences on variation in breastfeeding duration among indigenous Maya women from Guatemala.

OBJECTIVES: The causes of variation in breastfeeding duration in humans are poorly understood, but life history factors related to maternal energetics drive much of the variation in lactation duration in nonhuman animals. With this in mind, we investigated whether four energy-related factors influence variation in breastfeeding duration in a non-industrial human population: (1) mortality risk during mother's development (assessed via mother's adult height), (2) reliance on nutrient-dense weaning foods, (3) access to and need for help with infant feeding and care ("allomaternal care"), and (4) maternal tradeoffs between current and future reproduction (measured via child's birth order). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data pertain to 51 Kakchiquel-speaking Maya mothers and 283 children from a village in rural Guatemala. We developed a linear mixed model to evaluate the relationships between breastfeeding duration and the energy-related factors. RESULTS: Duration of breastfeeding was associated with two of the energy-related factors in the ways we predicted but not with the other two. Contrary to predictions, taller mothers breastfed for shorter periods and we found no evidence that weanling diet quality impacts breastfeeding duration. As predicted, women who had more help with infants breastfed for shorter periods, and later-born infants breastfed longer than earlier-born ones. DISCUSSION: The results regarding allomaternal care suggest that help reduces mothers' lactation demands. The energy saved may be redirected to increasing fecundity or investment in other children. The birth order result suggests that children born to mothers nearing reproductive senescence receive higher levels of investment, which likely impacts children's fitness.

The ex-pat effect: presence of recent Western immigrants is associated with changes in age at first birth and birth rate in a Maya population from rural Guatemala.

BACKGROUND: Economic transitions expose indigenous populations to a variety of ecological and cultural challenges, especially regarding diet and stress. These kinds of challenges are predicted by evolutionary ecological theory to have fitness consequences (differential reproduction) and, indeed, are often associated with changes in fertility dynamics. It is currently unclear whether international immigration might impact the nature of such an economic transition or its consequences for fertility. AIM: To examine measures of fertility, diet and stress in two economically transitioning Maya villages in Guatemala that have been differentially exposed to immigration by Westerners. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study compared Maya women's ages at first birth and birth rates between villages and investigated whether these fertility indicators changed through time. It also explored whether the villages differed in relation to diet and/or a proxy of stress. RESULTS: It was found that, in the village directly impacted by immigration, first births occurred earlier, but birth rate was slower. In both villages, over the sampled time window, age at first birth increased, while birth rate decreased. The villages do not differ significantly in dietary indicators, but the immigration-affected village scored higher on the stress proxy. CONCLUSION: Immigration can affect fertility in host communities. This relationship between immigration and fertility dynamics may be partly attributable to stress, but this possibility should be evaluated prospectively in future research.

Queering food security research: A critical analysis of 2SLGBTQ+ People's experiences of food insecurity in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: Household food insecurity (HFI), stress, isolation, and discrimination are major determinants of health that disproportionately affect 2SLGBTQ + people. The COVID-19 pandemic potentially exacerbated these inequities. This study investigates HFI rates among 2SLGBTQ + adults living in diverse household conditions during the pandemic and explores the idea that heteronormative conceptions of the "household" may affect measurement of HFI. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey responses were collected from 437 self-identified 2SLGBTQ + people from Toronto, Canada between March and July 2021. The survey measured HFI, sexual/gender identities, socio-demographic factors, household composition, and psycho-social stress/distress. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess variation in odds of marginal, moderate, and severe HFI in relation to sexual/gender identities, household composition, psycho-social distress, and socio-demographic covariates. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of respondents reported some level of HFI, with severe HFI higher among respondents who were bisexual, transgender/gender diverse, and/or assigned-female-at-birth. Living alone was associated with decreased odds of reporting marginal HFI but increased odds of moderate or severe HFI compared to living with a partner, family, or roommates; living with children was associated with decreased odds of both marginal and severe HFI. One indicator of psycho-social distress (perceived discrimination) was associated with higher odds of all levels of HFI, while the other (isolation) was associated with decreased odds of marginal HFI. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the high prevalence of HFI linked with discrimination among 2SLGBTQ + individuals during the pandemic. The complicated results regarding household composition and social isolation may suggest a need to revise definitions of the household when measuring, monitoring, and seeking to mitigate HFI in 2SLGBTQ + communities.

Fertility Dynamics and Life History Tactics Vary by Socioeconomic Position in a Transitioning Cohort of Postreproductive Chilean Women.

Globally, mortality and fertility rates generally fall as resource abundance increases. This pattern represents an evolutionary paradox insofar as resource-rich ecological contexts can support higher numbers of offspring, a component of biological fitness. This paradox has not been resolved, in part because the relationships between fertility, life history strategies, reproductive behavior, and socioeconomic conditions are complex and cultural-historically contingent. We aim to understand how we might make sense of this paradox in the specific context of late-twentieth-century, mid-demographic transition Chile. We use distribution-specific generalized linear models to analyze associations between fertility-related life-history traits-number of offspring, ages at first and last reproduction, average interbirth interval, and average number of live births per reproductive span year-and socioeconomic position (SEP) using data from a cohort of 6,802 Chilean women born between 1961 and 1970. We show that Chilean women of higher SEP have shorter average interbirth intervals, more births per reproductive span year, later age at first reproduction, earlier ages at last reproduction, and, ultimately, fewer children than women of lower SEP. Chilean women of higher SEP consolidate childbearing over a relatively short time span in the middle of their reproductive careers, whereas women of lower SEP tend to reproduce over the entirety of their reproductive lifespans. These patterns may indicate that different SEP groups follow different pathways toward declining fertility during the demographic transition, reflecting different life-history trade-offs in the process.

Breastfeeding Duration and the Social Learning of Infant Feeding Knowledge in Two Maya Communities.

Variation in the durations of exclusive breastfeeding (exBF) and any breastfeeding (anyBF) is associated with socioecological factors. This plasticity in breastfeeding behavior appears adaptive, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. With this concept in mind, we investigated whether durations of exBF and anyBF in a rural Maya population covary with markers of a form of socioecological change-market integration-and whether individual factors (individual learning, physiological plasticity) and/or learning from others in the community (social learning, norm adherence) mediate these changes. Using data from 419 mother-child pairs from two Guatemalan Maya villages, we fit a bivariate linear mixed model. The model compared exBF and anyBF among children from households of varying degrees of market integration whose mothers follow what we inferred to be local infant-feeding norms. It controlled for other factors expected to affect breastfeeding durations. We found evidence that exBF is associated with whether mothers follow their population's infant feeding norms, but no evidence that exBF is associated with the household's level of market integration. Conversely, anyBF is significantly associated with the household's market integration, but not with the villages' inferred norms. Because deviations from exBF norms are likely to result in infant mortality and reduced fitness, we hypothesize that the incentive to conform is relatively strong. Relatively greater individual plasticity in anyBF allows mother-child pairs to tailor it to socioecological conditions. Deviations from anyBF norms may be tolerated because they may provide later-life health/fitness payoffs, while posing few risks to infant survival.

Food Aversions and Cravings during Pregnancy on Yasawa Island, Fiji.

Women often experience novel food aversions and cravings during pregnancy. These appetite changes have been hypothesized to work alongside cultural strategies as adaptive responses to the challenges posed by pregnancy (e.g., maternal immune suppression). Here, we report a study that assessed whether data from an indigenous population in Fiji are consistent with the predictions of this hypothesis. We found that aversions focus predominantly on foods expected to exacerbate the challenges of pregnancy. Cravings focus on foods that provide calories and micronutrients while posing few threats to mothers and fetuses. We also found that women who experience aversions to specific foods are more likely to crave foods that meet nutritional needs similar to those provided by the aversive foods. These findings are in line with the predictions of the hypothesis. This adds further weight to the argument that appetite changes may function in parallel with cultural mechanisms to solve pregnancy challenges.