Drudgery reduction, physical activity and energy requirements in rural livelihoods

Srinivasan, C. S.; Zanello, Giacomo; Nkegbe, Paul Kwame; Cherukuri, Radhika; Picchioni, Fiorella; Gowdru, Nithya Vishwanath; Webb, Patrick

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2019.100846

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Depending on the farm step, 3000-3800 kilocalories are needed per day for adult men, exceeding the often-stated average of 2800 kilocalories needed per day. This is in contrast to Srinivasan et al (2020) who found average caloric energy requirementst between 1900-2500 kilocalories in India and Ghana using accelerometer devises 5 but reflecting early FAO work showing that heavy working adult men need up to 4400 kilocalories per day (FAO, 1957). Such high levels may affect the total time that people can devote to farming: farmers may work less than would be optimal because they do not have sufficient dietary energy to do so.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

“…Despite these limitations, Limb et al (2019) suggest that energy requirements calculated using time-use data seem to closely resemble the energy requirements measured with accelerometers. Nevertheless, more research is needed to validate this approach, for example, by using accelerometer devices, which address many of the above-mentioned limitations (Sathiyakumar et al, 2018;Srinivasan et al 2020;Zanello et al, 2017). However, accelerometer devices enable only limited insights into which type of activities are pursued (e.g.…”

Section: F B G M F B G M F B G Land Preparation Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements

Daum

Birner

2021

Food Sec.

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In the quest to reduce global under- and malnutrition, which are particularly high among smallholder farmers, agriculture-nutrition linkages are receiving increasing attention. Researchers have analyzed the link between the quantity and diversity of food that farmers produce and nutritional outcomes but paid limited attention to a third agriculture-nutrition link: the link between how food is produced and nutritional outcomes. This neglect persists despite the majority of smallholder farmers relying on hand tools for farming, which implies heavy physical work and, thus, high energy requirements. To address this research gap, this study compares the energy requirements of farm households in rural Zambia that are characterized by three different levels of mechanization: hand tools, animal drought power, and tractors. 1638 days of detailed time-use and nutrition data were collected from 186 male and female adults and boys and girls during different seasons (land preparation, weeding, and harvesting/processing) using an innovative picture-based smartphone app called “Timetracker”. This data served to calculate different proxies for physical activity and energy requirements using “Ainsworth’s Compendium of Physical Activities”. The results suggest that detailed time-use data offers great potentials to study physical activity and energy requirements. The findings show strong linkages between farm technologies, physical activity levels, and energy requirements, suggesting that this agriculture-nutrition link deserves more scientific and political attention to reduce under- and malnutrition among smallholder farmers.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 66%

Section: F B G M F B G M F B G Land Preparation Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements

Daum

Birner

2021

Food Sec.

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“…There were 16 documents that met the eligibility criteria for this area, 35,47–60 including 13 records from the 2020 GoPA! surveillance card for Ghana.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A scoping review of 2018–2020 research on NCDs and physical activity in Ghana: Groundwork for a monitoring system and action plan

et al. 2021

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Background Physical inactivity is a risk factor for chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), yet national surveillance of physical activity (PA) levels is not well defined. Though Ghana has a national health policy that emphasizes health promotion and prevention of lifestyle diseases, and an NCD policy with PA recommendations in 2012, it does not have an integrated plan of action to address widespread physical inactivity. Objective This review aims to identify the nature and extent of research in NCDs and PA in Ghana to inform the creation of an integrated action plan to address physical inactivity. The review focuses on four research questions: (1) what is the prevalence and monitoring of NCDs in Ghana from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, (2) what are the key risk factors of NCDs in Ghana, (3) what are the identified indicators and benchmarks that enhance or impede PA participation in Ghana, and (4) what are the active interventions and policy directives for NCDs and PA participation in Ghana. Methods Ghana‐specific articles, reports, and policies related to NCDs and PA were collected traversing 2018–2020. The scoping review included: (1) reviewing articles and documents related to risk factors of NCDs in Ghana, (2) reviewing articles and documents from the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!) monitoring and surveillance template for Ghana; (3) reviewing articles and documents on the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance Ghana Report Card on Physical Activity; (4) the Demographic and Health Survey website and (5) specific searches for World Health Organization reports. Results A total of 1763 records were identified through keyword search. Based on eligibility criteria, 4 were relevant to question 1, 23 to question 2, 16 to question 3, and 11 to question 4. For question 1, international benchmark surveys revealed that physical inactivity accounts for 20% of NCD related deaths in Ghana. For question 2, 8 records (34.8%) focused on hypertension, 5 (21.74%) body composition and obesity, 4 (17.4%) cardiovascular diseases, 3 (13.0%) on diabetes, 1 (4.4%) on stroke, and 2 (8.7%) on other risk factors. For question 3, 6 records (37%) focused on overall PA, 3 (19%) on the built environment, 2 (12%) active transportation, 2 (12%) on physical inactivity or sedentary behaviors, 2 (12%) on influence of family and peers, and 1 (6%) on active play. For question 4, though multiple national policies exist, including a minimum weekly level of compulsory physical education per week in the school curriculum, data monitoring and surveillance on PA participation are scarce. Conclusion Based on the scoping review of articles traversing 2018–2020, this review revealed minimal research on these topics. Data on PA participation is non‐existent due to lack of conscious monitoring mechanisms, integrated plan of action, intervention strategies and policy directives. A national research agenda is imperative to better understand the relationship and clear connection ...

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“…However, some studies have measured physical activity levels of rural populations in developing countries and find that overall levels of physical activity are higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries (Benefice, Garnier and Ndiaye 2001;Assah et al 2011;Christensen et al 2012). Closely related to this study is the work by Zanello, Srinivasan and Nkegbe (2017), Picchioni et al (2020) and Srinivasan et al (2020), who pilot the use of accelerometers to capture energy expenditure in rural communities in Ghana, India and Nepal. These studies, however, relied on smaller sample sizes of approximately 40 individuals (i.e.…”

Section: Activity Measures and Study Settingmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Distribution of Effort: Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting

Friedman¹,

Gaddis²,

Kilic³

et al. 2021

Policy Research Working Papers

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The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

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Drudgery reduction, physical activity and energy requirements in rural livelihoods

Cited by 12 publications

References 43 publications

The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements

The forgotten agriculture-nutrition link: farm technologies and human energy requirements

A scoping review of 2018–2020 research on NCDs and physical activity in Ghana: Groundwork for a monitoring system and action plan

The Distribution of Effort: Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting

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