Population structure of modern-day Italians reveals patterns of ancient and archaic ancestries in Southern Europe.

European populations display low genetic differentiation as the result of long-term blending of their ancient founding ancestries. However, it is unclear how the combination of ancient ancestries related to early foragers, Neolithic farmers, and Bronze Age nomadic pastoralists can explain the distribution of genetic variation across Europe. Populations in natural crossroads like the Italian peninsula are expected to recapitulate the continental diversity, but have been systematically understudied. Here, we characterize the ancestry profiles of Italian populations using a genome-wide dataset representative of modern and ancient samples from across Italy, Europe, and the rest of the world. Italian genomes capture several ancient signatures, including a non-steppe contribution derived ultimately from the Caucasus. Differences in ancestry composition, as the result of migration and admixture, have generated in Italy the largest degree of population structure detected so far in the continent, as well as shaping the amount of Neanderthal DNA in modern-day populations.

Mothers' knowledge and intentions of breastfeeding in Marrakech, Morocco.

Exclusive breastfeeding immediately after birth and during the first 6 months of life is the best source of nutrition for an infant. Its well-documented benefits are countless. Several studies highlight the relation between women's knowledge of breastfeeding, their attitudes, and their subsequent behavior. In this perspective, we conducted a study to examine the intentions and prenatal knowledge of mothers on breastfeeding. In a survey conducted from September 2013 to June 2015, 768 women were interviewed in different maternity units in Marrakech and its surrounding rural area. The mothers' mean age was 27.6 years, 30.1% of them were illiterate, and 48.2% were from rural areas. A total of 95.3% of the mothers received information concerning breastfeeding during pregnancy. The immediate circle of family and friends was the main source of information (52.8%), while healthcare professionals accounted for only 14%. Of the women surveyed, 57.5% had the intention during pregnancy to breastfeed their babies, and 81% wished to breastfeed for more than 12 months. The level of knowledge was related to the mother's age, education level, and parity. It should be noted that as their age increases women tend to choose breastfeeding exclusively for long periods. The level of knowledge and intentions of mothers regarding breastfeeding are associated with the success of this practice; however, the rate of breastfeeding continues to decline both nationally and regionally. Therefore, several measures should be taken to promote breastfeeding.

Age at menarche and place of residence (Marrakesh, Morocco).

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to determine the age at menarche of Moroccan girls by place of residence (rural vs. urban). METHODS: The data were derived from a survey conducted between 2014 and 2016 in schools of the Marrakesh region. A total of 433 questionnaires were completed by 433 girls aged 9-18 years, with 245 (56.6%) living in urban areas and 188 (43.4%) in rural areas. The mean and median age at menarche of the girls were estimated by retrospective and status-quo methods, respectively. The sociodemographic variables used were the parents' educational level, the parents' socioeconomic status, and family size. RESULTS: Out of the 433 girls surveyed, 265 had attained menarche, and the mean was at 13.10 years. The median age at menarche was 13.46 years. According to the place of residence, the girls living in urban areas on average had their first menstruation earlier than girls from rural areas. The mean and median ages at menarche of urban girls were 12.96 years and 13.16 years, respectively, compared with 13.34 years and 13.94 years for their rural counterparts. CONCLUSION: What can be inferred from this study is that the place of residence is a differential factor of age at menarche. This can be related to differences in the living conditions between the two environments.

[Prenatal care in the city of Marrakech]. / Soins prénatals dans la ville de Marrakech.

The data reported here come from a survey conducted in 2008, in direct interviews, according to a standard questionnaire, of 1712 women visiting 15 health centers in Marrakech. We selected 1202 women who gave birth during the past five years to examine the impact of socioeconomic and biodemographic determinants on access to prenatal care in this city. We also identified 309 women in our sample who were pregnant during the survey and studied the quality and content of their prenatal care. Around 90% of pregnant women consulted at least once during pregnancy. These results indicate that women in Marrakesh use prenatal care at higher rates than the national and regional population. This is likely to be explained by the large number of public health centers relatively well distributed throughout the city of Marrakech, although periurban areas are much less well endowed. Our analysis nonetheless indicates that 10% of the women in Marrakech do not consult at any time during pregnancy, although free care is provided in public health centers and outreach programs of the Department of Health encourage women to be monitored. Multiple sociocultural, socioeconomic, and biodemographic factors promote recourse to prenatal care. The most vulnerable pregnant women, that is, multiparous women living in periurban areas, the less educated women, and women of rural origin, are also those the least monitored. Most of the obstacles raised by the interviewees are maternal barriers, that is, related to the women themselves. These include indifference, recklessness, and ignorance of the risks: these barriers are related to maternal illiteracy and to a failure to understand the importance of medical surveillance.

Influence of socioeconomic status and body mass index on bone age.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To evaluate the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass index (BMI) with skeletal maturation in children from Marrakech (Morocco). METHODS: SES, BMI z-score and bone age (BA) were measured in a cohort of 623 children (280 boys and 343 girls, chronological age (CA) ranged from 6.6 to 18.8 years, mean 14.1 years). BA estimation was performed with the Greulich and Pyle atlas. Two social groups (privileged and unfavorable SES) were defined. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between BA-CA and age-and sex-specific BMI z-score. RESULTS: Global maturation delay was seen in the sample (BA-CA -0.56; SD 1.29). There was a significant relationship between skeletal maturation (BA-CA) and child BMI z-score among both genders. Bone age was more advanced in children with a greater BMI z-score. Privileged SES was positively associated with children's BA-CA for girls but there was no association for boys. In the boys' sample, there was no evidence that BA-CA variations with BMI z-score depended on socioeconomic status (p=0.664). Whatever the gender of the child, a greater BMI z-score increases the maturation. CONCLUSION: The multiple linear regression analysis is an interesting approach to understand the links between skeletal maturation, BMI and SES. In Moroccan children, excess weight is associated with privileged SES.

Obesity, overweight and body-weight perception in a High Atlas Moroccan population.

In order to study the prevalence of obesity and overweight and to understand how the human body is perceived among Moroccan mountain populations, we carried out a survey that covered a sample of 436 Amazigh individuals aged 20 years and more from the High Moroccan Atlas. Through this survey, we noticed that obesity is still low among men (2.4%), whereas the prevalence of obesity among women is alarming and reaches 13.3%. The prevalence of overweight is also high, especially among women, with 32.8% vs. 21.8% among men. Obesity prevalence, especially overweight, is higher than that recorded in the national rural level. The high prevalence of overweight that can develop to obesity should be taken into account mainly when dealing with women that still value overweight. In fact, women in our sample underestimate their overweight more than men and wish to have a heavier body.

Preference for sons and sex ratio in two non-Western societies.

Moroccan Berbers and the Bolivian Aymara are two unrelated peasant groups living in adverse environments with a still rather traditional agriculture. Precarious life conditions may be responsible for the importance given to male labor and hence for the cultural preference conferred on male descent. This preference, expressed in the social valorization of sons to the detriment of daughters, is more emphasized if the socioeconomic status of the family is lower. Interpreted according to the cost/benefit approach of Fisher (1958 Genetical Theory of Natural Selection, New York: Dover) of variations in the sex ratio and to its later developments (Trivers and Willard 1973 Science 179:90-91; Trivers 1985 Social Evolution, Menlo Park: Benjamin/Cummings; Hewlett 1991 J. Anthropol. Res. 47:1-37; Smith 1993 Ethol. Sociobiol. 14:39-44), these cultural characteristics could determine that parents bias the care allocated to their progeny in favor of sons, to the detriment of daughters. This could eventually affect their respective survival and finally modify the offspring tertiary sex ratio. This study compares differences in survival as indicators of parental care according to a child's sex and across three economic strata: poor, medium, and high. The Moroccan data express no other sex differences in survival than an advantage for daughters during the preweaning period in the medium and high strata. Within the same sex and across economic strata, a greater mortality between age 10-20 years is observed for boys of the poorest stratum. The Aymara data do not show sex differences by economic stratum, except for an advantage to daughters between birth and 5 years in the medium group, and no survival differences within the same sex across economic strata. These results suggest either that despite the social valorization of male progeny no differences in parental care according to sex occur, or that their magnitude is not great enough to contrast the survival of sons and daughters.

Study of GM immunoglobulin allotypic system in Berbers and Arabs from Morocco.

The GM immunoglobulin allotype polymorphism was investigated in four Moroccan populations: three Berber groups from Khenifra (Middle Atlas), Amizmiz (High Atlas), and Bouhria (Beni Snassen) and one Arabic-speaking sample from the Doukkala area (Abda, Chaouia, Doukkali, and Tadla districts in south-central Morocco). In order to characterize the genetic relationships between the populations, our results were compared with those obtained for other North African groups (from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Niger) and for Middle-East Africans, sub-Saharans, and Southwest Europeans. Based on GM haplotype frequencies, Factorial Correspondence Analyses, F(ST) significance testing, and hierarchical analyses of variance were performed. Our results reveal that Moroccan populations have heterogeneous GM profiles with high frequencies of GM haplotypes in Europeans (from 76% for Doukkala to 88% for Bouhria) and relatively high frequencies of GM haplotypes in sub-Saharans (from 11% for Bouhria to 23% for Amizmiz). The genetic diversity observed among Moroccans is not significantly correlated with either geographic or linguistic differentiation. In spite of their cultural and historical differentiation, we did not discover any significant genetic differences between Berbers and Arabic-speakers from Morocco. However, when large geographical areas are considered, our population samples are integrated in the North African GM variation, significantly distant from sub-Saharan groups but with a close relationship with Southwest European populations.

Analysis of human platelet antigen systems in a Moroccan Berber population.

The human platelet alloantigen systems HPA-1, -2, -3, -4, -5 and -6 in a Moroccan Berber population from the Amizmiz region were determined by polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). The gene frequencies obtained from these unrelated Berbers were 0 x 747 and 0 x 252 for HPA-1a and -1b; 0 x 817 and 0 x 182 for HPA-2a and -2b; 0 x 682 and 0 x 317 for HPA-3a and -3b; 1 and 0 x 0 for HPA-4a and -4b; 0 x 8616 and 0 x 1383 for HPA-5a and -5b; 1 and 0 x 0 for HPA-6a and -6b. The Berbers have the highest frequency for the 1b, 2b and 5b alleles of all the populations reported to date and also the lowest frequency for the 3b allele.

Do "helpers at the nest" increase their parents' reproductive success?

"Helpers at the nest," usually offspring of a preceding litter who contribute by feeding the young to increase the reproductive success of a breeding pair, are known in many species of birds and mammals. Although similar behaviors were described by ethnological observations in several human societies, there is a lack of data on their existence and role. This study of 794 reproductive life histories of post-menopausal Berber women of Southern Morocco aims to provide such information. Results show that the presence of "probable helpers" in the household is related to higher fertility scores and is associated with improved survival of offspring to sexual maturity. In contrast to sparse observations from other human societies, there is no indication that child caretaking would be specific to eldest daughters. Although the association between offspring survival and helping patterns seems highly probable, there is no confirmation that child caretaking per se is the relevant variable. Contrary to nonhuman helpers at the nest, workloads of children range from housekeeping to light agricultural tasks, and are not focused on assisting younger siblings. The improvement of reproductive success is probably the result of multiple interactions, among which the network of kinship would play a role at both the levels of economy and reciprocal assistance.

Characteristics of menstrual cycles in Moroccan girls: prevalence of dysfunctions and associated behaviours.

Population studies on normal and dysfunctional characteristics of menstrual cycles are scarce for western populations and practically non-existent for non-western ones. Recent data suggest that the type of menstrual cycle can be relevant for later gynaecological problems in several ways. The type of menstrual cycle is related to menarcheal age in a way that those with early maturation show more menstrual disorders which are the largest diagnosis category accounting for hysterectomies in adult women. On the other hand menstrual pain is often cited as the main single cause of school absenteeism among adolescent girls. The aim of this study is to describe characteristics of menstrual cycles, prevalence of main dysfunctions and their relationship to the age of maturity. The sample comprises 495 adolescent girls from Marrakech (Morocco) aged 12-19 years. At 13 years, 40% of these girls had reached menarche. The median age at menarche is 13.04. The prevalences of abdominal pain, premenstrual symptoms and irregularity are 69.60, 51.20 and 23.03 respectively. Abdominal pain is significantly more frequent in girls with early menarche.

Secular trend in age at menarche in Marrakesh (Morocco).

The median age at menarche observed by status-quo methods in 1991, and calculated by mean of probit analysis in a sample of 239 school girls from Marrakesh aged 11-17 years, was 13.75 +/- 0.17 years. Compared with earlier observations obtained for Moroccan girls in 1982 and 1987 the results show a decline of age at menarche of 0.55 year in the period 1982-91 and 0.25 year in the period 1987-91.

Determinants of contraceptive use in Morocco: stopping behaviour in traditional populations.

The determinants of modern contraceptive use in traditional populations are analysed in married women aged 30-44 living in the province of Marrakech (Morocco). Women who have never used contraception have smaller family sizes than those who do: the number of live children (or live births) is the variable with maximum predictive power on contraceptive use, while child mortality is the main inhibiting factor. The probability of contraceptive use increases with female age at marriage and decreases with the woman's age, indicating a generational change in reproductive behaviour. The socioeconomic variables education, employment and residence, have no significant independent predictive character on contraceptive use, although the interaction between education and residence does. The paper evaluates the hypothesis that traditional populations in the initial phase of their demographic transition resort to modern contraception in order to stop childbearing, when they have reached a desired number of children, rather than to space births or reduce their fertility.

PIP: The authors conclude that the determinants of contraceptive use among the rural population in Marrakech province, Morocco, were multiple and interrelated in complex ways. Birth control was a consequence of changes at both the individual and social levels. Findings indicate that women who had never used contraception had smaller family sizes than those women who used contraception. Contraceptive users had a significantly higher number of live births and living children. Child mortality was significantly greater among noncontracepting women. Contraceptive users had a significantly longer reproductive period than nonusers, which was attributed to a longer delay in the last live birth. Logistic models show that significant independent predictors of contraceptive use were the number of live births, the number of children who died before the age of 5, the age of the mother, the type of marriage, and the age at first marriage. The probability of access to contraceptives decreased with under-5 mortality, female age, marriage age, and increases in polygynous unions. This model explained 63.9% of the variance. Although residence and educational level did not significantly increase the fit of the model, the probability of contraceptive use did increase in relation to urban residence and a basic educational level. The number of live children was a predictor of contraceptive use but the best predictor of contraceptive use was family size (65.8%). The probability of contraceptive use increased among women with three or more children. Female education had no independent predictive impact on contraceptive use. Contraceptive use increased among women in polygynous unions, regardless of residence or schooling.