Nathan M A, Fratkin E M, Roth E A
Holyoke Health Center, MA 01040, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 1996 Aug;43(4):503-15. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00428-9.
Many nomadic pastoralists of Africa are settling near towns and famine-relief centers in response to drought-induced livestock loss, loss of pasture land, increased involvement in market economies and political turmoil including civil war. The present study uses measurements of child health, particularly morbidity, dietary and growth patterns, to evaluate the consequences of sedentism for three Rendille communities of northern Kenya. A nutritional and health survey utilizing interviews, anthropometric measurements, physical examinations and hemoglobin measurements was conducted for 105 mothers and their 174 children under six years of age in three Rendille communities, one fully nomadic and two sedentary, in July 1990, a year of above average rainfall, and again in June 1992, a drought year. Results indicate that while the nomadic Rendille community of Lewogoso shares similar morbidity patterns with its sedentary counterparts and had similar numbers of malnourished children during the wet year, the sedentary communities had significantly more malnutrition among children under six during the dry year. Moreover, the children in the settled town of Korr had significantly higher levels of anemia. Differences in malnutrition are attributed to distinctive dietary regimes: during the drought, nomadic children consumed three times as much milk as the sedentary children, while settled children's diets concentrated on starches, fat and sugar. This study suggests that the pastoral nomadic diet, particularly one dependent on camels' milk, offers children better resistance to the pressures of drought and supports findings that the subsistence base of mixed-species pastoralism is superior to sedentary alternatives with respect to child health.
由于干旱导致牲畜损失、牧场丧失、参与市场经济的程度增加以及包括内战在内的政治动荡，非洲许多游牧牧民正在城镇和饥荒救济中心附近定居。本研究通过测量儿童健康状况，特别是发病率、饮食和生长模式，来评估定居生活对肯尼亚北部三个伦迪勒社区的影响。1990年7月（降雨高于平均水平的一年）和1992年6月（干旱年份），在三个伦迪勒社区（一个完全游牧社区和两个定居社区）对105名母亲及其174名六岁以下儿童进行了一项营养与健康调查，调查采用访谈、人体测量、体格检查和血红蛋白测量等方法。结果表明，虽然勒沃戈索的游牧伦迪勒社区与其定居的同类社区有相似的发病模式，并且在湿润年份营养不良儿童的数量也相似，但在干旱年份，定居社区六岁以下儿童的营养不良情况明显更多。此外，在定居的科尔镇，儿童的贫血水平明显更高。营养不良的差异归因于独特的饮食方式：在干旱期间，游牧儿童饮用的牛奶量是定居儿童的三倍，而定居儿童的饮食则集中在淀粉、脂肪和糖上。这项研究表明，游牧牧民的饮食，特别是依赖骆驼奶的饮食，能让儿童更好地抵御干旱压力，并支持了以下观点：就儿童健康而言，混合物种游牧畜牧业的生存基础优于定居替代方式。
