Department of Social Medicine Heh, Office of Research and Grants, University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, Ohio, USA.
Am J Hum Biol. 2011 Jul-Aug;23(4):498-508. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.21172. Epub 2011 Apr 27.
Based on anecdotal and qualitative reports, a general assumption is that caregiving negatively impacts grandparents in Africa.
The purpose of this article is to determine how caregiving and gender impact nutritional status over four waves of data from Luo elders.
Luo elders, aged 60 and over (age 73.6 ± 7.9) were sampled. Participant recruitment was rolling and included 287 Luo grandparents in 2005, 396 in 2006, 389 in 2007, and 390 in 2009. A total of 689 elders participated in at least 1 year. Standard anthropometric measures were used to determine nutritional status. Impact of caregiving was examined using structural equation models.
Caregiving positively associated with nutritional status among women. This main effect was mediated by caregiving intensity, which also positively associated with nutritional status. Among men, caregiving negatively associated with nutritional status, although caregiving intensity did not significantly associate with most anthropometric measures. Socioeconomic status (SES) positively associated with five of nine anthropometric measures in women and all measures in men. Several measures indicated that both men and women became larger over time but few of the variables tested predicted growth.
The beneficial impact on grandmothers might indicate a coping strategy. These results indicated that researchers should shift away from comparing caregivers to noncaregivers and instead look at the multiple factors which may make some families resilient and others at risk. Human biologists can contribute to this literature by examining the ecological and cultural contexts under which caregiving represents a burden with physiological repercussions.
基于轶事和定性报告，人们普遍认为照顾在非洲对祖父母有负面影响。
本文旨在确定在来自洛厄尔老年人的四波数据中，照顾和性别如何影响营养状况。
抽样了年龄在 60 岁及以上的洛厄尔老年人（年龄 73.6±7.9 岁）。参与者招募是滚动进行的，包括 2005 年的 287 名洛厄尔祖父母、2006 年的 396 名、2007 年的 389 名和 2009 年的 390 名。共有 689 名老年人至少参加了 1 年。使用标准人体测量学指标来确定营养状况。使用结构方程模型来检查照顾的影响。
在女性中，照顾与营养状况呈正相关。这种主要影响是通过照顾强度来介导的，照顾强度也与营养状况呈正相关。在男性中，照顾与营养状况呈负相关，尽管照顾强度与大多数人体测量指标没有显著相关。社会经济地位（SES）与女性的九个人体测量指标中的五个和男性的所有指标呈正相关。有几个指标表明，男女都随着时间的推移而变大，但很少有变量可以预测增长。
对祖母的有益影响可能表明了一种应对策略。这些结果表明，研究人员应该从比较照顾者和非照顾者转移到研究可能使一些家庭具有弹性而另一些家庭处于风险中的多种因素。人类生物学家可以通过研究照顾在具有生理影响的生态和文化背景下代表负担的情况，为这一文献做出贡献。
