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  • Title: Physical activity, illness and nutritional status among adults in a rural Ethiopian community.
    Author: Alemu T, Lindtjørn B.
    Journal: Int J Epidemiol; 1995 Oct; 24(5):977-83. PubMed ID: 8557456.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: From Africa, our knowledge on how malnutrition and diseases influence the ability to work is limited. In a one-year population-based study, we investigated the effects of nutritional status, illness and socioeconomic factors on the activity pattern in a rural population in southern Ethiopia. METHODS: From July 1991 to June 1992, 226 people (109 men and 117 women) from the Elka na Mataramofa village in the Rift Valley were examined every 3 months. Information on the occurrence of illness and measurement of nutritional status were collected every 3 months. At the same time we interviewed each person for seven consecutive days to assess the pattern of activities. RESULTS: Men and women had a mean estimated energy expenditure (SD) of 2937 kcal (951) and 1977 (513) kcal, respectively. The mean body mass index (BMI) (SD) was 19.7 (2.3) for men and 20.0 (2.6) for women. Men showed a significant seasonal variation in estimated energy expenditure that was highest during the pre-harvest time. Women did not show such a seasonal variation. In a multivariate analysis, sex, age, state of nutrition, period prevalence and severity of diseases and seasonality influenced estimated energy expenditures. CONCLUSIONS: Both low BMI and illness are significantly associated with low estimated energy expenditure. Most likely, this represents an example of the vicious circle of malnutrition, disease and activity that affects subsistence farming communities. Development work that improves the state of nutrition and health of the adult population may therefore enhance the work performance of rural populations. The combined effects of nutrition and illness on the physical activity of subsistence farmers were investigated in a sample of 226 adults (114 households) from Ethiopia's drought-prone Rift Valley. The mean energy expenditure was estimated at 2937 kcal for men and 1977 kcal for women. Sex, age, nutritional status, period prevalence, severity of diseases, and seasonality independently influenced energy expenditure. The highest energy expenditures occurred during the pre-harvest period for men and during the harvest for women. The mean body mass index was 19.7 for men and 20.0 for women. 31.4% of men and 28.5% of women were defined as malnourished on the basis of a body mass index less than 18.5. 18.8% of respondents (20.9% of men and 17.1% of women) reported an illness in the preceding 2 weeks. Fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, malaise, and diagnosed malaria were the illnesses most frequently described. Of the 57 adults who reported a recent illness, half had stayed in bed for a mean duration of 7.8 days. Suspected, in this rural population, is a cycle of malnutrition, disease, and activity restriction that begins in childhood. Needed are interventions that reduce the prevalence of childhood stunting and health services that provide adequate prevention and treatment of diseases such as malaria.
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