Nutritional Transition of Riverine People from Puruzinho Lake in the Amazon Region. A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Scientific studies suggest that eating habits of traditional communities all over the world have been suffering changes as a result of gradual replacement of regional products with imported ones and also because of the increase of consumption of carbohydrates and trans fats. The nutritional state of populations, as riverine people in the Amazon region, has been widely affected by factors as changes in the eating and epidemiologic patterns. This study aims at the identification of the perception of dwellers of a riverine community the Brazilian Amazon region on their eating habits, their health and on the changes caused by development. This is a qualitative study, in which we used ethnographic semi structured interviews as a tool to collect data, conducted through a semi structured script, and applied to 16 dwellers/heads of families, in which 11 are men and 5 are women. The interviews were recorded in audio, full text transcribed and analyzed, and resulted in a descriptive system of categories and subcategories. As a result, we identified an increase of purchase capacity, greater participation in the market economy, lack of effective and continuous actions by the administrators of basic health services in the city. These joint factors contribute to the process of nutritional transition that is occurring in the community, as well as to the increase of health vulnerability of the dwellers.

Mercury in Fish and Human Hair and Estimated Dietary Intake in a Riverside Community of the Madeira River Basin in the Brazilian Amazon

“…Additionally, there have been major changes in the economic patterns of riverside populations in the Brazilian Amazon since the 2000s, including populations in the Madeira River Basin [80]. These changes have been driven by federal government initiatives providing financial subsidies to households in situations of social vulnerability (the "Bolsa Família" program) [81,82] and promoting electrification in rural and remote regions of the Amazon (the "Luz para Todos" program) [83].…”

“…Despite the reduction in direct exposure through fish consumption, the intake of ultra-processed foods results in high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and the accumulation of body fat (overweight) [87,88]. Thus, considering that MeHg has a lipophilic character, excess body fat can result in greater potential for bioaccumulation in the human body, even with a reduction in fish consumption [80].…”

Rural development and shifts in household dietary practices from 1999 to 2010 in the Tapajós River region, Brazilian Amazon: empirical evidence from dietary surveys

“…Diversified local economies based on fishing, hunting, slash-andburn agriculture, and the extraction and sale of forest products have been practiced for centuries in these communities and form the basis of their daily diets [15]. Some recent studies have found evidence of dietary changes in the rural Brazilian Amazon that are indicative of a nutrition transition (c.f [5,9,[16][17][18].). While they employ a variety of innovative methods, a comparison of dietary practices over time in the same sample population has, to our knowledge, not yet been undertaken.…”