Urban Kenyan Research Articles

Prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated risk factors in rural and urban populations of different ethnic groups in Kenya

Objective To assess the prevalence of glucose intolerance in rural and urban Kenyan populations and in different ethnic groups. Further, to identify associations between lifestyle risk factors and glucose intolerance. Research design and methods A cross-sectional study included an opportunity sample of Luo, Kamba, Maasai, and an ethnically mixed group from rural and urban Kenya. Diabetes and IGT were diagnosed using a standard OGTT. BMI, WC, AFA, AMA and abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fat thicknesses, physical activity and fitness were measured. Questionnaires were used to determine previous diabetes diagnosis, family history of diabetes, smoking habits, and alcohol consumption. Results Among 1459 participants, mean age 38.6 years (range 17–68 years), the overall age-standardized prevalence of diabetes and IGT was 4.2% and 12.0%. The Luo had the highest prevalence of glucose intolerance among the rural ethnic groups. High BMI, WC, AFA, abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat thickness, low fitness and physical activity, frequent alcohol consumption, and urban residence were associated with glucose intolerance. Conclusions The prevalence of diabetes and IGT among different Kenyan population groups was moderate, and highest in the Luo. The role of lifestyle changes and ethnicity on the effect of diabetes in African populations needs further exploration.

Recreating discourse and performance in Kenyan urban space through Mũgithi, Hip Hop and Gĩcandĩ

This paper examines the one-man guitar Mũgithi music dance and performance popular in urban Kenyan urban space together with localized Kenyan Hip Hop. The music genres are seen as cultural practices that perform global socio-cultural discourses, and which can also be read for the ways in which they both indicate and formulate contexts. A close examination of the two popular genres shows how they continue to borrow from a variety of cultures and poetic forms. Both Mũgithi and Kenyan Hip Hop music also embody such forms as Gĩkũyũ poetic tradition known as Gĩcandĩ. The male-dominated tradition is somewhat comparable to such well known traditions as West African praise-singers and Imbongi male Zulu biographers in terms of their praise-singing performances and poetry. Consequently the borrowing and fusion between Gĩcandĩ on the one hand and Mũgithi and Hip Hop traditions on the other, help to display dynamic stylistic variations along with creative dialogic inter-textuality (Bakhtin 1981). This paper suggests that, given the creative and popular nature of the two musical genres, and the often controversial sociocultural discourses they embody, both Mũgithi and Kenyan Hip Hop music enjoy wide acclaim and ‘covert prestige’ (Trudgill 1972), irrespective of the perceptions that they are both transgressive and subversive sociocultural and political representations of ‘the wretched of the earth’ (Fanon 1967).

Antiretroviral Durability and Tolerability in HIV-Infected Adults Living in Urban Kenya

Insufficient data exist on the durability and tolerability of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens provided by HIV treatment programs implemented in developing countries. Longitudinal observation of clinical, immunologic, and treatment parameters of all HIV-infected adult patients initiated on ART was performed at Saint Mary's Mission Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya from September 2004 until August 2006. A total of 1286 patients were analyzed (59.1% female). Initial ART regimens were primarily stavudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine (62.1%). Median ART duration was 350 days (11.6 months). Significant improvements in clinical and immunologic status were noted after 12 months of therapy. ART switches occurred in 701 (54.5%) patients. The cumulative incidence of ART switch at 12 months was 78.4%. Concurrent ART-related toxicities (40.6%) and tuberculosis treatment interactions (28.1%) were the most frequent reasons for ART switch. Baseline AIDS symptoms (hazard rate [HR]=1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28 to 1.98; P<0.01) and a CD4 count<or=100 cells/mm3 (HR=1.20, CI: 1.01 to 1.43; P=0.04) were independent predictors of ART switch. ART-related clinical toxicity occurred in 341 (26.5%) patients. Peripheral neuropathy was reported most frequently (20.7%). A CD4 count<or=100 cells/mm3 was an independent predictor of clinical toxicity. Excellent clinical and immunologic responses to ART were observed in this urban Kenyan population; however, frequent switches in ART among medication classes because of toxicity or drug interactions may limit the durability of these responses.

Prevalence of infant stunting in an urban Kenyan population: comparison to the 1998 Kenyan Health and Demographic Survey and the 2000 CDC growth grids

In 1998, the Kenyan Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) estimated that 33% of Kenyan children were stunted, one-third of which were severely stunted. During a one-month study period, in the summer of 2000, 161 children age twenty-three months and younger were seen at clinics in the Mathare Valley, Nairobi, Kenya. Height and weight were measured on all children; z-scores were calculated from the anthropometrical measurements. A z-test was used to compare the height-for-age of children twenty-three months of age and younger living in the Mathare Valley to the 1998 KDHS statistics. The results demonstrate that there was a significant increase (p < 0.01) in the prevalence of stunting of children living in the Mathare Valley in 2000 (40%) as compared to the 1998 KDHS population (22%). Using the 2000 US CDC growth grids as the standard, in this urban population stunting peaks at 12–23 months of age, with 71% considered stunted. Children, age twenty-three months and younger, living in the Mathare Valley slum, Nairobi, Kenya in 2000 appear to be at an increased risk for stunting compared to the population of Kenyan children in the 1998 KDHS survey.

: Precolumbian Population History in the Maya Lowlands . T. Patrick Culbert, Don S. Rice.

American AnthropologistVolume 94, Issue 2 p. 464-465 Precolumbian Population History in the Maya Lowlands. T. Patrick Culbert and Don S. Rice Patricia A. Urban, Patricia A. Urban Kenyan CollegeSearch for more papers by this author Patricia A. Urban, Patricia A. Urban Kenyan CollegeSearch for more papers by this author First published: June 1992 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1992.94.2.02a00280AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Volume94, Issue2June 1992Pages 464-465 RelatedInformation

Part 3: The making of an Urban Mganga: New trends in traditional medicine in urban Kenya

Abstract The need persists for traditional medical practitioners in countries where medical facilities are limited. In addition, their use in cities where such facilities are available shows that they are meeting a need. The beliefs of a group of forty‐eight urban Kenyan practitioners are described in general terms and the induction, training and practice of one is detailed. Emerging patterns of utilization are leading to coexistence. Many traditional practitioners are eager to foster this trend and to accept new ideas.

The effect of chronic childhood malnutrition on growth and gonadotropin excretion during puberty

There is little information available in man regarding gonadal vs. hypothalamic-pituitary contributions to malnutrition-related delayed puberty. To investigate this question, a cross-sectional study was made of 342 rural (R) and 358 urban (U) Kenyan (Bantu) chilren, ages 10-17. Comparative data in early pubertal girls revealed the following mean differences (p<.01) in anthropometry: FSH and LH excretion (mIU/hr) was determined by radioimmunoassay of timed urine specimens. Mean gonadotropin values for individuals in middle and late pubertal stages were similar between the 2 nutritional groups. In early pubertal childhood, however, LH secretion (but not FSH) was lower in malnourished boys (50±7.0 vs. 76±5.5 mIU/hr, p<.05) and girls (55±8.8 vs. 99±12 mIU/hr, p<.01), equivalent to levels in the prepubertal, urban group. On the basis of age urinary gonadotropins were consistently lower in rural children 10-13 yr old. Conclusions: 1) The onset of puberty in man is not determined by size. 2) Gonadotropin relationships to age and pubertal stage in the 2 nutritional categories suggest pituitary rather than gonadal factors mediate the delayed onset of puberty associated with malnutrition.

Environmental effects on motor development: the case of "African infant precocity".

In order to clarify the extent and cause of African infants' precocity in motor development, as reported by Geber and others, 64 babies and their families were intensively studied in a rural Kenyan community. It was found that the motor skills of sitting and walking, which the Kenyan babies acquired early (by American standards), are (a) specifically taught by the caretakers and (b) can be practised in the course of their usual daily routines. They are not advanced in skills which are not taught or practised. Middle-class urban Kenyan children from the same ethnic background were found generally to be intermediate in both environmental encouragement and rate of advancement. Preliminary results from other groups in Kenya suggest that encouragement of motor development is widespread and that for behaviors which are differentially encouraged among groups, the average age of attainment is predictable from environmental measures.