Associations between anthropometric variables and reproductive performance in a Papua New Guinea highland population

Abstract

Associations between anthropometric variation and reproductive performance have important ecological and evolutionary implications. Bivariate associations between measures of reproductive performance (live births and offspring still living at the time of interview) and 24 anthropometric variables were examined in 150 females, aged 21-44 years, from the Eastern Highlands district of Papua New Guinea. Where significant linear or curvilinear associations with age existed, the reproductive and anthropometric variables were age-corrected. Linear, quadratic and cubic regressions were computed for each bivariate regression of age-corrected reproductive variable on age-corrected anthropometric trait. Positive linear regressions were found in the cases of body weight, triceps skinfold and head breadth. Positive cubic regressions were found in the cases of upper arm circumference, calf circumference, bicondylar femur and wrist breadth. It is suggested that these associations may reflect important ecological factors which influence both anthropometric and reproductive variation. U-shaped associations were found in the cases of wrist breadth and bicondylar femur. Inverted U-shaped associations were found for stature, sitting height, bizygomatic diameter and morphological face height. These curvilinear associations may be interpreted in terms of natural selection, and suggest that stature and sitting height may be undergoing stabilizing selection in this population.

The trade-off between number and size of offspring in humans and other primates

“…The common result of a positive effect of maternal body size on fertility rates within other species (Roff 2002) and within human populations may also reflect a similar phenomenon (e.g. New Guinea Highlanders, Brush et al 1983;Ache, Hill & Hurtado 1996; Gambian villagers, Sear et al 2003). …”

Evolutionary perspectives on human height variation

“…159 -? Martorell et al (1981) Indians in Guatamala a 380 Pos 142 153 Brush, Boyce & Harrison (1983) Papua New Guinea 152 Curv 151 151 Goldstein & Kobyliansky (1984) Mexicans in Mexico and USA 230 -b ? 230 -?…”

Maternal height and child mortality in 42 developing countries

“…However, not all studies on this relationship in developing countries point in the same direction. Negative effects have been reported for India and Peru (Devi et al, 1985;Frisancho et al, 1973), no effects for Namibia and Brazil (Kirchengast, 2000;Menezes et al, 2005) and nonlinear effects for Nepal and Papua New Guinea (Brush et al, 1983;Strickland and Tuffrey, 1997). Although these findings are based on specific and non-representative populations, they indicate that also within developing countries the effect of maternal height could depend on ecological factors, including the situation of the household.…”

“…Also, there is broad evidence that adult height is an indicator of strength and general health potential (Batty and Leon, 2002;Cavelaars et al, 2000;Engeland et al, 2003;Marmot et al, 1984;Silventoinen, 2003;Silventoinen et al, 1999;Wadsworth et al, 2002), which would increase child survival. Obviously, women who are exceptionally tall or short because of health problems might have higher child mortality (Brush et al, 1983;Pollet and Nettle, 2008;Silventoinen et al, 1999).…”