Tracer D P
Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1991 Aug;85(4):393-405. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330850404.
Evolutionary theory predicts that organisms make trade-offs between their somatic and reproductive energy budgets. Thus every round of reproduction should result in a concomitant decline in the parents' total energy reserves. Among humans this prediction was corroborated more than 25 years ago when fertility-related nutritional depletion was reported among mothers in the Highlands of New Guinea (Jelliffe and Maddocks, 1964). More recently, however, a number of studies of fertility and maternal nutritional status in both developed and developing nations have reported fertility-related increases in various indices of adiposity and lean body mass. Such findings have called the so-called "maternal depletion syndrome" into question, and have raised serious doubts as to whether the phenomenon is widely generalizable to all populations. In light of this recent controversy, data are presented here on fertility-related changes in maternal adiposity and lean body mass among the Au, a lowland forager-horticulturalist population in Papua New Guinea. While both a short-term decline in adiposity following childbirth, and a long-term fertility-related decline are seen among more traditional Au, individuals with a regular source of wage-income show only the former. There are no significant changes in lean body mass with increasing fertility in either group. The finding of significant socioeconomic variation in the capacity to withstand the stress of repeated reproduction even within this one extremely rural area of Papua New Guinea may lend insight into why previous studies have been unable to find evidence of maternal depletion. The fertility-related decline in adiposity that is reported for the more traditional Au is consistent with the predictions of evolutionary theory.
进化理论预测，生物体在体细胞能量预算和生殖能量预算之间会进行权衡。因此，每一轮繁殖都应导致父母总能量储备随之下降。在人类中，这一预测在25多年前得到了证实，当时新几内亚高地的母亲们被报道存在与生育相关的营养消耗（杰利夫和马多克斯，1964年）。然而，最近，在发达国家和发展中国家进行的一些关于生育与孕产妇营养状况的研究报告称，生育与肥胖和瘦体重的各种指标增加有关。这些发现对所谓的“孕产妇消耗综合征”提出了质疑，并引发了人们对该现象是否能广泛适用于所有人群的严重怀疑。鉴于最近的这场争议，本文呈现了巴布亚新几内亚低地觅食-园艺人群奥族中与生育相关的孕产妇肥胖和瘦体重变化的数据。在更为传统的奥族人群中，产后肥胖会出现短期下降，且存在与生育相关的长期下降情况，但有固定工资收入来源的个体仅表现出前者。两组中，随着生育次数增加，瘦体重均无显著变化。即使在巴布亚新几内亚这个极其偏远的农村地区，人们在承受反复生育压力的能力上也存在显著的社会经济差异，这一发现或许能为为何先前的研究未能找到孕产妇消耗的证据提供一些见解。更为传统的奥族人群中报告的与生育相关的肥胖下降情况与进化理论的预测相符。
