Papers on Anthropology

Juhan Aul – 125 years from the birth of the founder of Estonian anthropology

2023-04-17T13:55:04+00:00

On 15 October 2022, 125 years passed from the birth of Juhan Aul (1897–1994), the founder of Estonian anthropology. The article gives a brief overview of the versatile scientist’s contribution to the history of science and anthropology. Some aspects that have been particularly emphasized in his works, presentations and manuscripts and the importance of the anthropological data throughout the ages are highlighted. As a further development of the data collected by Juhan Aul, Markus Valge’s doctoral thesis was published in the year of his 125th birthday.

Working against forgetting – Infants’ feeding and weight gain at the time of Juhan Aul

2023-04-17T13:55:01+00:00

A hundred and twenty-five years ago, European infants grew differently from modern infants. We show weight gains of 20 healthy children weighed longitudinally from birth to age 1 year published by Camerer in 1882. The data illustrate the prevalent historic concepts of infant nutrition practiced by German civil servants, lawyers, merchants, university professors, physicians, foresters and farmers. Breastfeeding by the mother was not truly appreciated in those days; children were often breastfed by wet nurses or received bottled milk of various composition. Bottle feeding mainly consisted of diluted cow’s milk with some added carbohydrates without evidence that appropriate amounts of oil, butter or other fatty components had been added. French children from 1914 showed similar weight gain patterns suggesting similar feeding practices. The historical data suggest that energy deficient infant formula had regularly been fed in the late 19th and the early 20th century Europe regardless of wealth and social class. The data question current concerns that temporarily feeding energy deficient infant formula may warrant serious anxieties regarding long-term cognitive, social and emotional behavioral development.

Body composition of female office workers compared with infrared reflection measurement, bioimpedance analysis and calipermetry

2023-04-17T13:54:58+00:00

There are currently many different anthropometric methods for determining the individual body fat percentage, as well as almost as many variants of bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) and only a single method of infrared reflection measurement (IR) as easily available methods of field research.

The present study aims at a simultaneous comparison between calipermetry, IR and BIA. In particular, the question which measurement method could be used as an equivalent method in the event of failure of BIA or IR is investigated.

The sample group consisted of 121 female office workers (average age 32.5 ± 9.4 years, average height 164.5 ± 6.3 cm and average weight 60.3 ± 6.8 kg), from the Rhine-Main area.

The measurements were previously scheduled and mostly carried out during the lunch break. For anthropometry, 13 skin fat folds were measured with the Accu® Measure Caliper, thigh circumference with a measuring tape, the height with a height measuring device and the body mass on the weight scale. Subsequently, an IR measurement (Futrex®) and a BIA (InBody®) were performed on the same subjects.

The parameters of body fat percentage and total body water (in L) were examined.

Statistical methods were correlation coefficients, Bland-Altman comparison and paired t-test for equivalence.

For the women studied, the highest correlation coefficients were in the comparisons between the formulas according to Parízková and Brožek et al. (r = 0.82), as well as for Parízková and Siri (r = 0.82).

The correlation coefficient for the IR vs. BIA comparison was r = 0.92.

A key result of the present study was the finding that the investigated methods in a female study group could not be substituted in an equivalent way.

Body composition and nutrition in skiing

2023-04-17T13:54:51+00:00

Special requirements, such as super-maximally filled glycogen stores, short regeneration times, correct meal timing or appropriate weight specifications for ski jumping are particularly useful for endurance athletes such as cross-country skiers. A deficiency could have a fatal effect on performance and possibly a negative influence on health.

While cross-country skiing is clearly one of endurance sports, ski jumping and alpine skiing are considered to be fast-strength sports or technical (acrobatic) sports.

The proven advantages of carbohydrate loading (supercompensation), a nutritional technique for classic endurance loads, also apply to cross-country skiing.

A drop in performance, concentration and coordination disorders as well as overheating threaten if fluid loss exceeds 2% of the total body water. Vitamin additives or sweeteners in sports drinks are inefficient. Since the higher need is actually compensated by the increased food intake with a balanced mixed diet, there is, in principle, no over-proportional need for individual vitamins in athletes.

As the maximum oxygen uptake is already 15% lower from 3000 m altitude, a drop in performance is clearly noticeable there.

When skiing (snowshoeing, ski touring, etc.), it should be noted that an ascent of 100 meters in altitude alone requires an additional 100–150 kcal. At moderate activity, the additional energy requirement at high altitudes compared to the sea level is estimated to be 250–290 kcal per day for men and 180–200 kcal per day for women.

Top athletes in cross-country skiing can liberate 170–210 kJ/min (40– 50 kcal/min) in a dominant anaerobic manner within 2–3 minutes. The respective energy consumption is modified by numerous personal as well as external factors (for cross-country skiing, for example, the outside temperature, the friction resistance of the snow, the technique, the height profile of the route and the headwind).

In cross-country skiers, the average values of body fat range between 4.8 and 12.7% in males and from 10.6 to 22.7% in females, while the average values of lean body mass (LBM) vary between 58.2 and 68.8 kg in males and from 45.6 to 48.6 kg in females. In alpine skiers, the mean values of body fat are between 9.7 and 15.8% in males and from 16.2 to 26.7% in females, and the LBM values in males range between 59.9 and 74.7 kg, in females from 42.1 to 52.8 kg. The span of body fat in male ski jumpers ranges from 8.6 to 16% with an LBM of 59.7 kg. Since 2012, a BMI of at least 21 kg/m² including suit and shoes has been a condition for ski jumpers to be able to use full-length skis (145% of body height). Otherwise, shorter skis have to be used, which reduces the wing area and is intended to reduce the jump distance as a penalty. The average values of body fat in male athletes of Nordic Combined range between 8.9 and 11.2%, and the corresponding LBM values are between 62.0 and 64.1 kg. When comparing these parameters of body composition, it must always be remembered that different methods of determining the body fat percentage have been used in corresponding studies and that possible differences do not represent a development of the skiing somatotypes over time but could also have methodological reasons.

Association of food habits with adolescent hypertension: A study from Manipur

2023-04-17T13:54:40+00:00

Background: Hypertension is one of the major concerning health issues worldwide. Lately, adolescent hypertension has been on the rise with change in the diet and lifestyle as one of the probable contributing factors.

Aim of the study: To study the association of food habits with different parameters of hypertension among the adolescents of Manipur.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 728 adolescents of the age range 17–19 years comprising of 470 males and 258 females of Manipur, Northeast India. Blood pressure measurements were taken using a mercury sphygmomanometer, and the average value of three measurements was recorded. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS version 23.

Results: Statistical analysis showed significant association of hypertension with consumption of salty food (P < 0.05, χ2 = 12.28), junk food (P < 0.05, χ2 = 6.07) and sugar sweetened drinks (P < 0.05, χ2 = 8.37). Mean arterial pressure was also found to be significantly associated with sugar-sweetened drink consumption (χ2 = 6.96, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The study highlighted the association of salt, sugar and junk food consumption with hypertension among the adolescents of Manipur.

The prevalence of colour blindness among the males of the Bhoksha tribe in Dehradun, India

2023-04-17T13:54:35+00:00

Colour Blindness is an X-linked recessive disorder which predominantly appears in males. Colour blindness is the inability or decreased ability to perceive colour differences by the human eye under normal lighting conditions. The purpose of the present study was to find out the prevalence of congenital Red-Green colour blindness among the people of the Bhoksha tribe in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand. The study was conducted with a total number of 204 individuals aged from 5 years to 85 years (mean ± SD is 22.71 ± 13.15) among the randomly selected male population. Colour blindness was examined using a standard Ishihara Chart under proper light. Among the total sample of 204 males in the community, 3 males are found to be colour blind which means that 98.53% were found to be normal, and the frequency of colour blindness was 1.47%. These three cases represented protanopia, deuteranopia and achromatopsia. Colour blindness appeared among the Pundir, Chauhan and Kakkad clans of the Bhoksha tribe in three villages. In conclusion, 1.47% were found to be colourblind in this study among the Bhoksha tribe of Dehradun, which is very high as compared with the prevalence in other tribal populations in India, although they were unaware of it. The present study supports Post and Pickford’s (1962, 1963) hypothesis of relaxation of selection.