Seasonality of energy expenditure during pregnancy and lactation for rural Nepali women
Panter-Brick, C.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57(5): 620-628
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9165 PMID: 8480676 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/57.5.620Document Number: 329681
In Salme, Nepal, a remote rural village high in the Himalayas, an anthropologist directly observed 19 nonpregnant, nonlactating (NPNL) women and 24 pregnant or lactating women for 3601 hours on 297 single days (11 hours/day in the winter and 13 hours/day in the monsoon season). She also measured the energy cost of their activities. The women were subsistence farmers and of the Tamang ethnic group, the largest in Nepal. This study aimed to estimate these women's daily energy expenditure (EE) and to examine the effect of seasonality, pregnancy, and lactation on regular physical activity. Total EE (TEE) values increased significantly during the spring and monsoon season for all women. NPNL women also increased considerably TEE between the winter and monsoon seasons (9.9 MJ vs. 10.5 MJ, p .05). All of the women carried on very heavy physical activity during the spring and monsoon season, but NPNL women carried on the most very heavy physical activity during the winter. The high TEE levels were not a result of short bursts of intensive activity, but rather from many hours of doing activities of low to moderate energy cost. These activities included pounding grain, hoeing fields, cutting wood, walking, and carrying 10-55 kg loads. In July-September, the women worked 5 hours in agriculture, .5 hours in animal husbandry, traveled 1 hour, and rested 1.7 hours outdoors, equaling 8.2 hours/day of doing subsistence activities. These findings indicated that women faced seasonal constraints on their work, which prevented pregnant and lactating women from considerably cutting back on physical activity during the monsoon season. This limits their options for behavioral changes to save energy and reduce TEE.