Thomas W. McDade|Victoria Reyes?García|P. Blackinton|Susan Tanner|Tomás Huanca|William R. Leonard
Ethnobotanical knowledge is associated with indices of child health in the Bolivian Amazon
Northwestern University|Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats|Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona|Brandeis University|University of Georgia|Brandeis University
culture critical determinant human behavior health intergenerational transmission knowledge regarding use available plant resources historically essential function culture local ethnobotanical knowledge important health nutrition particularly rural lowresource settings cultural economic transitions associated globalization threaten knowledge prospective study investigates association parental ethnobotanical knowledge child health among tsimane horticulturalist foraging society amazonian bolivia anthropometric data capillary blood samples collected 330 tsimane 2 10yearolds mothers fathers interviewed assess ethnobotanical knowledge skills comprehensive measures parental schooling acculturation economic activities also collected dependent variables included three measures child health creactive protein assayed wholeblood spots indicator immunostimulation ii skinfold thickness estimate subcutaneous fat stores necessary fuel growth immune function iii heightforage assess growth stunting child health measure associated maternal ethnobotanical knowledge independent wide range potentially confounding variables standard deviation maternal ethnobotanical knowledge increased likelihood good child health factor gt15 like many populations around world tsimane increasingly facing challenges opportunities globalization results underscore importance local cultural factors child health document potential cost ethnobotanical knowledge lost