Body norms, body image, and media in a market-integrating indigenous population in Argentina: A mixed-methods investigation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between media, body norms, and body image among the Qom, a market-integrating indigenous population in Argentina that has historically idealized larger body sizes. METHODS: With men and women (n = 87), we measured frequency of media/technology use through a Likert-type questionnaire. Using the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale, we asked participants to select the most healthy and ideal body size for their gender, as well as their own body size. We calculated body dissatisfaction as the difference between ideal and own body size. We conducted semi-structured interviews to describe the role of media in body norms and body image. RESULTS: Media exposure was not significantly associated with perceptions of the "healthiest" or most "ideal" body sizes, nor body dissatisfaction. Men and women perceived categorically "middle-range" body sizes as both healthy and ideal, differing from a similar study in 2010, where larger bodies were favored. Interviews revealed that: media is not recognized as affecting body norms and body image, but is conceptually associated with cultural loss (Theme 1); a "dual stigma" of fatness and thinness is perpetuated by peers, family, and healthcare providers (Theme 2); and body acceptance is highly valued (Theme 3). CONCLUSION: In this context, while some body norms have changed over time, the impact of media on body norms and image may be secondary to influences from individuals' social networks, and may be occluded by norms favoring body acceptance.

Postpartum amenorrhea duration by sex of the newborn in two natural fertility populations.

OBJECTIVES: Postpartum amenorrhea (PA) affects the length of interbirth intervals and thus is intimately related to human life history strategies. PA duration appears to be influenced by maternal energetic status. In humans, as in other mammals, sons are costlier than daughters. Thus, we hypothesize that, in energetically constrained environments, a newborn's sex should be associated with PA duration. METHODS: We analyzed data from two natural fertility populations in which mothers have differing energy budgets: Qom women (n = 121) from a periurban village in Argentina, who have a comparatively calorically dense diet and are sedentary (prepregnancy mean BMI = 24.8 ± 4.5 kg/m2 in 1997), and agropastoral Kaqchikel Maya women (n = 88), who have a comparatively calorically restricted diet and high physical activity levels (mean BMI = 21.8 ± 3.7 kg/m2 ). We predict that (a) mothers of sons exhibit longer PA duration than mothers of daughters and (b) this association between offspring sex and PA duration is stronger in the Maya, who have smaller energy budgets. RESULTS: Maya mothers with sons exhibited estimated mean and median PA durations that were 1.34 times the estimated mean and median PA duration of mothers with daughters (p = 0.02). Among the Qom, mean, and median PA duration did not differ significantly in relation to offspring sex (p = 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: Maya mothers with sons exhibited longer PA duration than those with daughters. This phenomenon was not observed in the well-nourished Qom, possibly due to "buffering" effects from larger energy budgets. Offspring sex may influence birth spacing and maternal life history strategies in energetically constrained environments.

Perceptions of the healthiest body in a market-integrating indigenous population in Argentina: Fat idealization and gendered generational differences.

OBJECTIVES: Market integration seems to induce gender-specific generational change in health-related perceptions of body size. We predicted that among the Qom of Argentina, younger women would perceive comparatively thinner bodies as healthiest, demonstrating thin-idealizing body norms, and older women would retain culturally rooted perceptions of heavier bodies as healthiest. As traditional and globalized body size ideals are different for men, we predicted that men would perceive normal bodies as healthiest and would not exhibit generational differences. METHODS: We asked Qom adults (n = 273) residing in Namqom, Argentina to choose the healthiest body size from the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale (FRS). We performed multiple linear regression with age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) predicting healthy-body perception score. RESULTS: A majority of women chose overweight bodies as healthiest. As predicted, older women preferred heavier bodies compared to their younger peers; this generational effect was stronger among women clinically defined as underweight (BMI ≤19.99 kg/m2 ), and "normal" weight (20.00 kg/m2 ≤ BMI ≤24.99 kg/m2 ), as compared to women clinically defined as overweight (25.00 kg/m2 ≤ BMI ≤29.99 kg/m2 ) or obese (≥30.00 kg/m2 ). Men exhibited no generational effects and largely perceived bodies corresponding to a "normal" BMI as healthiest. CONCLUSIONS: Among Qom women, there is evidence for the adoption of the idealization of thinness as healthy alongside traditional perceptions that fat bodies are healthy.

Consensus-building during the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) initiative in Samoa: A qualitative content analysis.

The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) initiative provides countries with an evidence-based toolbox to improve the national breastfeeding environment by assessing and developing a plan to effectively scale up well-coordinated national policies and programs. BBF is carried out by a multi-institutional, intersectoral committee of experts, convening across five committee meetings designed to produce policy recommendations that can be implemented in the country's context. Samoa successfully completed the BBF initiative in 2018, resulting in the institution of breastfeeding policy in hospitals and the establishment of lactation rooms within government ministries. An important step in informing the success of future breastfeeding scale-up initiatives is understanding how consensus is built. This study aimed to investigate how the BBF Samoa committee built consensus. We conducted a content analysis of audio recordings of three BBF Samoa meetings (meetings 1, 2 and 4), meeting minutes, and meeting notes using an a priori operational consensus-building framework. We used a combination of deductive and inductive approaches to: a) evaluate the data against existing, a priori criteria for consensus-building and b) identify emergent ways in which the BBF Samoa committee may have achieved consensus. We identified 6 themes, 2 meta-subthemes, and 16 subthemes. The 6 themes, largely defined by the a priori framework, represented key components of successful consensus-building. The 2 meta-subthemes described two overarching methods of consensus-building: "process-led" (i.e., inherent to the BBF process itself) and "organic" (unique/specific to the committee). Lastly, the 16 subthemes described more specific ways that the committee reached consensus. The detailed manualization of the BBF process, its reliance on data, and its transparent and engaged committee process were key for reaching consensus on BBF scores and recommendations in Samoa. Our study contributes to the understanding of how effective breastfeeding policy recommendations are made, using a methodology that can be applied beyond the topic of breastfeeding.

Maternal weight status and the composition of the human milk microbiome: A scoping review.

The human milk microbiome is thought to partly contribute to the assembly of the infant gut microbiome, a microbial community with important implications for infant health and development. While obesity has well-established links with the adult gut microbiome, less is known about how it affects the human milk microbiome. In this scoping review, we synthesize the current literature on the microbial composition of human milk by maternal weight status, defined broadly as BMI (prepregnancy and postpartum) and gestational weight gain (GWG). This study followed the a priori protocol published in Prospero (registration #: CRD42020165633). We searched the following databases for studies reporting maternal weight status and a characterization of milk microbiota through culture-dependent and culture-independent methods: MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Scopus. After screening 6,365 studies, we found 20 longitudinal and cross-sectional studies investigating associations between maternal weight status and the composition of the milk microbiome. While some studies reported no associations, many others reported that women with a pre-pregnancy or postpartum BMI characterized as overweight or obese, or with excessive GWG, had higher abundances of the genus Staphylococcus, lower Bifidobacterium abundance, and lower alpha diversity (within-sample diversity). This review suggests that maternal weight status is minorly associated with the composition of the milk microbiome in various ways. We offer potential explanations for these findings, as well as suggestions for future research.

A Naturalistic Study of Norm Conformity, Punishment, and the Veneration of the Dead at Texas A&M University, USA.

Culturally inherited institutional norms structure much of human social life. Successfully replicating institutions train their current members to behave in the generally adaptive ways that served past members. Ancestor veneration is a well-known manifestation of this phenomenon whereby deference is conferred to prestigious past members who are used as cultural models. Such norms of respect may be maintained by punishment based on evidence from theory and laboratory experiments, but there is little observational evidence to show that punishment is commonly used. To test for punishment as a mechanism that maintains these norms, we examine a norm of ancestor veneration in a natural field experiment at the Memorial Student Center (MSC) at Texas A&M University. The MSC is a memorial to university war dead, and the expectation is that all who enter the building remove their hats out of respect. Observations reveal that hat removal is significantly more common at the MSC than at two control locations. Survey data indicate that most, but not all, subjects understand the norm to be veneration of the dead, and most expect others to follow the norm. Many report a strong negative emotional response when asked to imagine the norm being violated. Sixty-two percent report they would definitely or probably ask the noncompliant to uncover. Focal follow data show that punishment is relatively rare, however, with the majority of behatted subjects going unreproached as they pass through the building. Both survey and observational data indicate there is a motivated minority that enthusiastically enforces the norm.