Agricultural Workload Research Articles

Patterns and determinants of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices over the first year of life in a rural Gambian population

Background: Although breastfeeding is common in The Gambia, high rates of undernutrition in children under five highlight the importance of understanding drivers of particular feeding patterns in this environment, especially early introduction of non-breast milk foods (NBMFs). The country’s marked seasonality, which is associated with annual food insecurity and heavy maternal workload, may influence breastfeeding patterns; however, longitudinal assessments of infant diet in relationship to such factors are limited. We aimed to characterize infant breastfeeding patterns and timing of introduction of local complementary foods in a rural Gambian population across the first twelve months of life. Potential environmental and sociodemographic predictors of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) duration were explored in order to identify factors that may influence infant feeding decisions in this population. Methods: Data from dietary questionnaires (administered every ten days until 12 months of age) collected as a part of the Hormonal and Epigenetic Regulators of Growth study (2013-2018) were used to calculate EBF duration in a subsample of 194 mother-infant pairs. Socioeconomic questionnaires and Principal Component Analysis were used to calculate household sociodemographic position (SEP). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to investigate potential predictors of EBF duration, including seasonality, SEP, and maternal and infant factors. Results: Mean age at introduction of food or liquid other than maternal milk was five months (±1.5). At twelve months, 98.7% of infants continue to receive some maternal milk. Being born in May significantly predicted shorter EBF duration by -1.68 months (95% CIs: -2.52, -0.84mo; P<.0001). SEP, maternal parity, and infant sex were non-significant predictors of EBF duration. Conclusions: Maternal milk is a vital component of infant diet across the first twelve months of life in this population. Earlier introduction of NBMFs coincides with the annual period where maternal agricultural workload intensifies in this region, though additional investigation is warranted.

Association Between Ergonomic Burden Assessed Using 20-Item Agricultural Work-Related Ergonomic Risk Questionnaire and Shoulder, Low Back, and Leg Pain in Korean Farmers

ABSTRACT Objectives:This study aimed to determine the agricultural ergonomic burden in Korean farmers and to analyze its correlation with musculoskeletal pain. Methods: In total, 1001 farmers (525 females and 476 males; mean age, 59.6±7.5years) who owned or rented a farm and belonged to an agricultural cooperative unit were recruited. Ergonomic burdens were assessed using a 20-item Agricultural Work-related Ergonomic Risk Questionnaire (20 agricultural works). The presence of musculoskeletal pain (shoulder, low back, and leg/foot), Farm Stressor Inventory, subjective stress index, and agricultural workload (low, moderate, somewhat hard, or hard) were collected using structured questionnaires. Results: Factor analysis of the Agricultural Work-related Ergonomic Risk Questionnaire revealed a four-factor solution: neck and upper limb, trunk and push – pull, machine and heavy lifting, and repetitive trauma. Cronbach’s alpha was greater than 0.65. For 18 of the 20 items, there was a significant association with the Farm Stressor Inventory, subjective stress index, and agricultural workload. The most frequent ergonomic burdens were squatting (51.2%), highly repetitive wrist movements (53.5%), shoulder flexion at 45–90° (51.2%), and trunk flexion or twisting at≥45° (48.8%). Ergonomic burdens were significantly different in 13 items between sexes. The musculoskeletal pain was associated with increased agricultural burdens in 10 items in male farmers and 14 items in female farmers. Conclusion: Increased agricultural ergonomic burdens were associated with musculoskeletal pain. Ergonomic burden showed different patterns between male and female farmers, with female farmers appearing to be more affected by ergonomic burden than male farmers.

From January to June: Birth seasonality across two centuries in a rural Polish community

Seasonality of births is a worldwide phenomenon, but the mechanisms behind it remain insufficiently explored. Birth seasonality is likely to be driven by seasonal changes in women’s fecundity (i.e. ability to conceive), which is strongly influenced by their energetic status. We tested whether birth seasonality is driven by high workload and/or low access to food using 200 years of birth data, from 1782 until 2004, in an agricultural rural Polish community. First, we analysed the time series of births and within-annual variance in births, a proxy for the extent of seasonality. Secondly, we tested the hypothesis that a high agricultural workload and/or low access to food decreases number of births. We found seasonality of births throughout more than 200 years of observation in an agricultural Polish population, with a dominant birth seasonality in January and February which gradually shifted towards June in the late twentieth century. The observed pattern does not support the hypothesis that birth seasonality resulted from women’s energetic status. We discuss the possible reasons why our results do not support the tested hypothesis and some implications for our understanding of the birth seasonality.

Labour-saving technologies mitigate the effect of women’s agriculture time-use constraints on stunting in rural Uganda

Women’s time allocation is a dimension of women’s empowerment in agriculture, and is recognised as a pathway through which agriculture can affect child nutritional status in developing countries. Longer hours of farm work can potentially increase women’s time constraints, reducing the time allocated to child-caring responsibilities and raising the risk of poor child nutritional status. Using a three-wave household panel dataset from the Feed the Future Innovation Lab on Nutrition surveys in the north and southwest of Uganda, we tested the hypothesis that the negative effect of women’s agriculture time-use constraints on child stunting is mitigated for households that use labour or timesaving agricultural technologies (LSATs). The results show a positive and significant association between the number of hours per day that women spend on agricultural work and the risk of stunting in children aged zero to 23 months who live in households that do not use animal traction for ploughing. However, this association is statistically insignificant, and even turns negative for households that adopted the labour-saving technology. Our findings indicate that LSATs have the potential to lessen a household’s agricultural workload, giving mothers more child-caring time, and hence improving child nutritional status. Therefore, agriculture could have better nutritional outcomes if policies and programmes were designed to have interventions that reduce the workload in farming activities and thus reduce pressure on women’s time.

Investigation of gender differences in stillbirths in Italian regions at the turn of the nineteenth century

Data quality issues have hindered the analysis of the determinants of stillbirths in the years following Italian unification. By exploiting panel data techniques to take into account the possible effect of stillbirth misreporting, this paper investigates the relationship between seasonal agricultural workload and the number of male and female stillbirths in the Italian regions at the turn of the twentieth century (1883–1913). We found that although stillbirth rates were lower for females, agricultural workload seasonality had a more substantial effect for them. We suggest that this finding may be rationalised through the adaptive sex ratio adjustment hypothesis.

Maternal BMI mediates the impact of crop-related agricultural work during pregnancy on infant length in rural Pakistan: a mediation analysis of cross-sectional data

BackgroundStunted growth in early infancy is a public health problem in low-and-middle income countries. Evidence suggests heavy agricultural work during pregnancy is inversely associated with maternal body mass index (BMI) and infant birth weight in low- and middle-income countries; but pathways linking agricultural work to length-for-age Z-scores (LAZ) in early infancy have not been examined. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between agricultural work during pregnancy, post-natal maternal BMI and LAZ among young infants in rural Pakistan; and explored whether maternal BMI mediated the relationship between agricultural work and infant LAZ.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 2015 to January 2016 in rural Sindh, Pakistan. Mother-infant dyads were recruited via systematic random cluster sampling at 2–12 weeks’ post-partum (n = 1161). Anthropometric measurements (maternal and infant height/length and weight) and questionnaire data were collected. Multivariable linear regression and structural-equation based mediation analyses were used to examine associations of agricultural work during pregnancy with maternal BMI and infant LAZ.ResultsDuring pregnancy, women reported engaging in livestock-related work (57.0%), crop-related work (42.7%), and cotton harvesting (28.4%). All three forms of agricultural work were negatively associated with maternal BMI (β = − 0.67 [− 1.06; − 0.28], β = − 0.97 [− 1.51; − 0.48]; and β = − 0.87 [− 1.33; − 0.45], respectively). Maternal engagement in cotton harvesting alone was negatively associated with infant LAZ after controlling for confounding factors. The total negative effect of cotton harvesting on infant LAZ was − 0.35 [− 0.53; − 0.16]. The indirect effect of maternal BMI on infant LAZ was − 0.06 [− 0.08; − 0.03], revealing that 16% (− 0.06/− 0.35) of the relationship between cotton harvesting and infant LAZ, after adjustment, was mediated via maternal BMI.ConclusionThese results underscore a need to reduce labour-intensive agricultural workload demands during pregnancy, especially in cotton harvesting, to reduce risks of negative maternal energy balance and poor growth outcomes in early infancy.

Intensity of Agricultural Workload and the Seasonality of Births in Italy.

According to "the energy balance mechanism" theory, female ovarian function is strongly hindered by even a modest negative energy balance (the difference between calorie intake and calorie consumption). Agriculture-based economies were characterized by periods of extremely intense workload (especially in summer when grain was harvested) without sufficient nutrition. We analyze the role of the intensity of agricultural workload (proxied by marriage seasonality) on seasonal oscillations in births. Using data at the regional level, from Italian Unification to the eve of the World War I, we find some empirical support for the energy balance theory. In particular, we find the strength of the relationship between marriage seasonality and birth seasonality to be lower in the more developed Northern part of the Italian country, in which some signs of industrialization had already been present.

Seasonality of livebirths and climatic factors in Italian regions (1863-1933)

Birth seasonality is a phenomenon that characterizes almost all the populations of the world. In spite of this, the causes underlying these seasonal fluctuations represent an as yet unsolved puzzle. Two main theoretical approaches have been proposed to explain birth seasonality. The first encompasses a social explanation and emphasizes the role of social, economic and cultural factors in determining the optimal moment (from a social perspective) for conception (e.g., according to the cycle of agricultural workload, religious festivity, marriage seasonality, etc.). The second theoretical approach encompasses an environmental explanation and focuses on the role that climatic factors (e.g., temperature, rainfall, light intensity, etc.) play in determining the optimal moment of conception from a biological perspective. Our paper may be collocated in the latter strand of the literature. The aim is to investigate the effects of temperature on conceptions, and subsequently on the seasonality of livebirths, while controlling for a possible social confounding effect, i.e. the seasonal pattern of marriage. To achieve this end, we empirically investigate the role of temperature as well as that of marriage seasonality in Italian regions for the period stretching from the Italian unification to the eve of World War II. We find that extreme temperatures (both cold and hot) negatively affect the number of births. At the same time, marriage seasonality also seems to be an important explicative factor of the seasonal fluctuation of live births.

The Welfare of Young Polish Konik Horses Subjected to Agricultural Workload

Every year a new group of young Polish Konik colts are separated from the forest herds to be trained in the stable breeding system. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the young Polish Konik horses who had been born in a forest reserve adapt to and tolerate draft work. Two groups of 6 horses each were studied: (a) 3- to 4-year-old colts and (b) 7- to 13-year-old stallions. An effort response was estimated by heart rate (HR) registration and biochemical analysis of hematocrit; blood lactic acid (LA) level; and plasma concentration of glucose, triacylglycerols, uric acid, total protein, and cortisol as well as the activity of creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase. The mean HR workload response was significantly higher in the group of colts than in the adult stallions: 141 ± 19.3 bpm versus 124 ± 14.4 bpm, respectively. Blood LA level determined after effort was also significantly higher in colts than in stallions: 2.17 ± 0.42 and 1.40 ± 0.16 mmol/l, respectively. The increases in HR and blood LA levels in the colts were higher than in adult stallions, but such increases did not exceed the values characteristic for young working horses. Therefore, the Polish Konik colts evaluated in this study, and new colts who will be separated from the forest herds and brought to the stables in the future, can be subjected to the same work routine that has been used historically because it is not beyond their capabilities.

BIRTH SEASONALITY AS A RESPONSE TO A CHANGING RURAL ENVIRONMENT (KAYES REGION, MALI)

Birth seasonality responds to a variety of environmental and socio-cultural factors. The present study was carried out to quantify the trends in seasonal variation in birth rate in seven districts in the Kayes region of Mali between 2007 and 2010 and to attempt to link climatic- and agricultural-cycle-dependent factors with birth seasonality. Lagged regression analysis based on time series analysis techniques was used to investigate seasonality of births registered in health facilities and its association with climate, labour migration, agriculture workload, malaria infection and food supply. There was a clear bimodal pattern in month-to-month institutional delivery rate variation, and this seasonal pattern repeated each year over the study period. The data showed that rates of health-facility-attended deliveries were high at the end of the dry season (April-June), fell rapidly in the first half of the rainy season, rose again during the later part of the rainy season (August-October) and fell to their lowest values after the rains. The first peak observed in spring (April-June) corresponded to conception nine months earlier during the rainy season (between July and September), while the second peak observed in the third quarter of the year (August-October) corresponded with conception at the beginning of the dry season right after the harvest period (between November and January). Between these peaks was an abrupt trough in July. The findings support a causal process through which climate change influences conception/birth seasonality in two direct and indirect pathways. On one side climate change influences conception/birth seasonality from the effects on fetal loss (changes in annual rainfall leading to changes in malaria incidence) and on the other side by affecting fecundability (changes in agricultural cycles leading to changes in food production, agricultural workload and socio-cultural events, which in turn influence energy balance and sexual behaviour). Labour migration, which is closely linked with the agricultural cycle, influences sexual intercourse and thus marital fertility. Finally, the model emphasizes an eco-systemic approach to the study of birth seasonality.

Interpopulation, interindividual, intercycle, and intracycle natural variation in progesterone levels: A quantitative assessment and implications for population studies

Methodological challenges in studying sex steroid hormones in premenopausal women result from the existence of variation at three levels: among women from the same population, among menstrual cycles recorded for women at different times of the year, and among days of the same cycle. We partitioned, for a Polish rural population, the natural, nonpathological, variation in salivary progesterone concentrations (measured during 14 days of the luteal phase) into the intracycle component (which accounts for 65% of the total variation) and the among-cycle component (the remaining 35% of the total variation). Out of the among-cycle variation in salivary progesterone, as much as 46% is expressed as differences among individual women (interindividual component); the remaining 54% of variation is due to differences among cycles of individual women (intercycle, within-women component). Such intercycle variation is probably caused by a seasonality of agricultural workload and is much higher than in nonseasonal, industrial populations. We also used bootstrap analyses to generate heuristic recommendations for choosing sample sizes of the number of subjects, number of cycles per woman, and number of days per cycle. Studies in populations with seasonal lifestyles should rely on measurements of at least three cycles per woman. Given the substantial intracycle amplitude in hormone levels to reliably assess biologically and medically relevant variation in ovarian function, at least 7-8 days/cycle should be measured.

Fatigue and its Underlying Factors among Elderly Citrus Farmers in a Rural Area of Japan -Effect of Social Support on Fatigue and Gender Difference-

The purposes of this study were to assess fatigue among elderly citrus farmers and indicating countermeasures to reduce the workload of agricultural work and the work-related stress among elderly citrus farmers. The Fatigue Questionnaire for Farmers developed by the Rural Life Research Institute, Japan was used after a modification by the addition of items related to dietary life. It was found that some of the factors causing fatigue among citrus farmers differed between men and women. There was a clear correlation between agricultural work load and the severity of fatigue. Among these elderly farmers, the qualitative aspect of work stress had much more effect on fatigue than the quantitative aspect. And, the fact that social support impossibility for them deepened their sense of dissatisfaction with work and social life indicated the importance of social support for them. The study suggested that the modified questionnaire was shown to be useful in the assessment of fatigue among agricultural workers; however, it needs to be simplified. Further study using the simplified fatigue questionnaire is needed for further clarification of fatigue and its underlying factors among agricultural workers.

Physical work causes suppression of ovarian function in women.

The suppression of reproductive function is known to occur in women engaging in activities that require high energetic expenses, such as sport participation and subsistence work. It is still unclear, however, if reproductive suppression is a response to high levels of energy expenditure, or only to the resulting state of negative energy balance. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that work-related energy expenditure alone, without associated negative energy balance, can lead to the suppression of reproductive function in women. We document suppression of ovarian function expressed as lowered salivary progesterone levels in women from an agricultural community who work hard, but remain in neutral energy balance. We propose two alternative evolutionary explanations (the 'pre-emptive ovarian suppression' hypothesis and the 'constrained down-regulation' hypothesis) for the observed results.

Tenacious women: clinging tobanjahousehold production in the face of changing gender relations in Malawi

This article examines major shifts in southern Malawi's matrilineal societies at the household level that have contributed to the intensification of women's agricultural workload and the undermining of their relative economic autonomy. Slave trading and incursions from militant, patrilineal invaders weakened women's authority in the pre‐colonial period while missionary activities and capitalist administrative practices further eroded women's control of vital resources and robbed them of family labour during the colonial period. The author argues that the tenacity with which women in these matrilineal, largely uxorilocal communities cling to individual family production rather than participating in gender specific collaborative forms of production signals a last defence against the historical erosion of their economic and political power. Their insistence on banja production is linked to their need to optimize and maintain control over the benefits of this production at the household level.

Birth seasonality in a Rural U.S. county, 1911-1979.

This paper examines birth seasonality in a rural U.S. county over the period 1911-1979. Data were taken from the complete series of birth certificates for the county population during this period. Birth seasonality was expected to reflect seasonal variation in agricultural workload earlier in the century (pre-1940) but to disappear as this population became more integrated into the wage labor market from 1940 to 1979. The pattern of birth seasonality in each decade from the 1910s to the 1970s by week, month, and season was analyzed with descriptive and analytic techniques. However, no birth seasonality was found for any decade during this century. The absence of a seasonal fertility pattern remained when all births were examined, and when such factors as ethnicity (only births to white mothers), occupation (only births to women married to farmers), and stillbirths were controlled singly and in combination. The implications of the lack of birth seasonality in this population are discussed in terms of the understanding of the causes of birth seasonality and the place of birth seasonality in human adaptation.

Studies on comparison of physical measurements and blood properties of middle-aged and old farmers in Saga prefecture with reference to topographical features.

A survey of physical mesurements, blood pressure, blood mesurements and frequency of food consumption was conducted on 152 males and 229 females, aged 40 to 65 years, from three rural districts in Saga prefecture. The districts were Ariake (flatland area), Kohhoku (intermediate area) and Yamanouchi (mountainous area). While, on the aged -above 70 years, a questionnaire on daily living and health condioion was investigated.The results were summarized as follows:1) The values of skinfold thickness differed little among the districts. The rate of obesity by skinfold thickness both in male and female was lower than the result of National Dietary Survey in 1981. However, the average skinfold thickness in females were higher a little compared with the values of our suruey in same region in 1971.2) The prevalence rate of anemia in females was remarkably high (below 12g/dl of hemoglobin, 34%). It presumed that agricultural work load might heavy, and nutrients intake correspond to the work load was insufficient.3) From the results of frequency of food consumption, inhabitants in Ariake compared with Kohhoku more frequently intaked modern food e. g. meat, milk. On the other hand, Kohhoku was higher in blood pressure, HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio, and lower in triglyceride, total choresterol than Ariake. We guessed that the food consumption pattern mainly affect on the results of blood pressure and serum lipids.4) In relation to the correlation matrix which calculated on all districts, the higher the obesity, the higher the blood pressure, triglyceride, total cholesterol and cholinesterase activity, whereas the obesity decreased HDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio.5) Among 90 persons aged above 70 years, the rate of ones who can not work from physically disability, and who have any desease was 18%, 51% respectively.

Prenatal Dietary Supplementation of African Women and Birth Weight

Abstract Gambian women, who show marked seasonal fluctuations in energy balance, were offered a dietary supplement during pregnancy. This resulted in a net energy increment of 431 kcal/day. In the wet season, when the women were normally in marked negative energy balance due to food shortages and a high agricultural work load, the supplementation improved birth-weight by a mean of 224 g and reduced the incidence of low-birth-weight babies (

PRENATAL DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF AFRICAN WOMEN AND BIRTH-WEIGHT

Gambian women, who show marked seasonal fluctuations in energy balance, were offered a dietary supplement during pregnancy. This resulted in a net energy increment of 431 kcal/day. In the wet season, when the women were normally in marked negative energy balance due to food shortages and a high agricultural work load, the supplementation improved birth-weight by a mean of 224 g and reduced the incidence of low-birth-weight babies (<2·5 kg) from 28·2% to 4·7%. In the dry season, when the women were previously in positive energy balance despite an energy intake of only 60% of the recommended dietary allowance, the supplement had no beneficial effect on birth outcome. This threshold effect indicates the need to identify truly at-risk groups for prenatal supplementation programmes in developing countries.