Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Lifestyle and Reproductive Effects on Bone Mineral Density in an Amazonian Forager-Horticulturalist Population

与市场一体化相关的生活方式变化与慢性病风险的增加密切相关，尽管只有很少的研究涉及到对骨密度和骨丢失的影响。骨密度(BMD)是骨健康的重要诊断指标，临床上常被用作未来骨折风险和骨质疏松症的标志。尽管各种生活方式和生殖因素被认为是影响BMD的因素，但数据往往是不一致的，我们目前的知识存在重大差距。这在一定程度上源于相对同质的研究人群，以及对有时有问题的自我报告数据的依赖。拟议的研究将侧重于厄瓜多尔的土著Shuar人，这是一个亚马逊地区的觅食园艺人口，目前正在经历快速的文化和经济变化。这项研究将评估在经历不同程度的市场整合的六个Shuar社区的成年人中，生活方式和生殖对骨密度的影响。这项研究将是横断面的，采用城乡设计，成人样本(14岁；两个地区各90名女性，90名男性)。使用混合的定量-定性方法，将收集基本的人体测量和BMD数据(使用定量超声技术测量)，以及体力活动(使用加速度计进行评估)、饮食、女性生殖史(怀孕数量和母乳喂养模式)、社会经济状况和生活方式变化的测量。智力价值：这项研究的结果将通过增加骨骼成分来扩展先前关于经济发展和生活方式变化对健康影响的研究。这项研究还将增加目前对人类骨骼如何受到生活方式因素影响的理解，并将提高生物人类学家解释过去种群中骨骼变异的能力。更广泛的影响：除了加强国际研究合作和向研究伙伴提供当地相关的健康信息外，拟议的研究还有可能为骨质疏松症的治疗和预防工作提供信息。这项博士论文研究项目将有助于从代表不足的群体中培养一名女性研究生。

Lifestyle changes associated with market integration have been closely linked with increased risk of chronic disease, although minimal research has addressed the effects on bone density and bone loss. Bone mineral density (BMD) is a critical diagnostic measure of bone health and is often applied in clinical settings as a marker for future fracture risk and osteoporosis. Although various lifestyle and reproductive factors are suggested to shape BMD, data are often inconsistent and there are major gaps in our current knowledge. This, in part, stems from relatively homogenous study populations and a reliance on sometimes problematic self-report data. The proposed research will focus on the indigenous Shuar of Ecuador, an Amazonian forager-horticulturalist population currently undergoing rapid cultural and economic change. The study will assess the effects of lifestyle and reproduction on BMD among adults in six Shuar communities experiencing varying degrees of market integration. The study will be cross-sectional and employ an urban-rural design with an adult sample ( 14 years old; 90 females, 90 males from each of the two regional areas). Using a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach, basic anthropometric and BMD data (measured using quantitative ultrasound techniques) will be collected along with measures of physical activity (assessed using accelerometry), diet, female reproductive history (number of pregnancies and breastfeeding patterns), socioeconomic status, and lifestyle change. Intellectual Merit: The results from this study will expand upon previous research on the health effects of economic development and lifestyle change by adding a skeletal component. This study will also increase current understanding of how the human skeleton is affected by lifestyle factors, and will improve the ability of biological anthropologists to interpret skeletal variation in past populations. Broader Impacts: In addition to strengthening international research collaborations and providing locally relevant health information to study partners, the proposed research has the potential to inform osteoporosis treatment and prevention efforts. This doctoral dissertation research project will contribute to the academic training of a female graduate student from an underrepresented group.