Childcare in Challenging Environments: Identifying Barriers to Optimal Childcare Practices in Rural Tanzania

这项研究项目将探索坦桑尼亚农村同一村庄两个民族儿童营养状况显著差异的原因和后果。先前的研究表明，在这种情况下，与年龄和性别匹配的平布韦儿童相比，按种族划分的苏库马儿童明显更重、更高。与最初的预测相反，收获前饥饿季节家庭粮食不安全的衡量标准、家庭财富指标和母亲身高通常无法解释这些族裔群体之间的巨大差异。在这项研究中，调查者将更详细地探讨饮食摄入量和母亲照顾行为对儿童营养状况和死亡率的相对影响。数据收集的方法包括焦点小组、食谱试验、调查和人体测量。目的是找出这两个群体在育儿模式上的主要差异，并更好地了解为什么这两个群体在照顾孩子的能力上存在差异。这项研究将有助于文化人类学和生物人类学关于生存和人口结果之间的关系以及文化和种族对儿童健康的影响的理论辩论。更广泛的影响关于为什么妇女很少遵守当前国际婴儿和儿童喂养营养建议的新知识，将与国际和当地卫生规划者相关。以前的干预措施侧重于在饥饿季节提供食物，但以前的数据表明，家庭食物供应与儿童在整个季节的发育没有关系。

This research project will explore the causes and consequences of dramatic differences in the nutritional status of children from two ethnic groups occupying the same village in rural Tanzania. Previous research revealed that in this setting ethnically Sukuma children were significantly heavier and taller for their age than were age and sex matched ethnically Pimbwe children. Contrary to initial predictions, measures of household food insecurity during the pre-harvest hunger season, indicators of household wealth, and maternal stature were generally unable to account for the large differences between these ethnic groups. In this research, the investigator will explore in more detail the relative impact of dietary intake and maternal care giving behaviors on children's nutritional status and mortality. Methods of data collection include focus groups, recipe trials, a survey, and anthropometry. The objective is to identify key differences in patterns of childcare between these two groups, as well as to gain a better understanding of why the two groups differ in their ability to care for their children. The research will contribute to theoretical debates in both cultural and biological anthropology about the relationship between subsistence and demographic outcomes, as well as the influence of culture and ethnicity on children's health. Broader impactsNew knowledge of why women so rarely adhere to current international nutrition recommendations for infant and child feeding will be relevant to international and local health planners. Prior interventions have focused on providing food during the hunger season, yet previous data have shown that household food availability is not related to children's growth across the season.