Do wealth and inequality associate with health in a small-scale subsistence society?
| Autor: | Christopher von Rueden, Thomas S. Kraft, Aaron D. Blackwell, Hillard Kaplan, Benjamin C. Trumble, Angela R. Garcia, Adrian V. Jaeggi, Bret Alexander Beheim, Paul L. Hooper, Michael Gurven, Jonathan Stieglitz |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), Université Toulouse 1 Capitole (UT1), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, University of Zurich |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Male medicine Health Status global health hierarchy the Tsimane biopsychosocial 0302 clinical medicine Indians 2400 General Immunology and Microbiology Health care Global health South American Biology (General) arguably via psychosocial stress. We tested this in a small-scale subsistence society Aetiology B- ECONOMIE ET FINANCE ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS 2. Zero hunger General Neuroscience 1. No poverty Age Factors 2800 General Neuroscience General Medicine [SHS.ECO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance Health equity 3. Good health Mental Health social determinants of health Medicine Female epidemiology social and economic factors Psychology In high-income countries mismatch Social status tradeoffs Bolivia QH301-705.5 Science socio-economic status 610 Medicine & health Genetics and Molecular Biology Basic Behavioral and Social Science General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 03 medical and health sciences 1300 General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology 2.3 Psychological Behavioral and Social Science Humans Social determinants of health human Socioeconomic status General Immunology and Microbiology Poverty one's relative socio-economic position and economic inequality may affect health and well-being business.industry Social stratification 030104 developmental biology Good Health and Well Being Socioeconomic Factors 11294 Institute of Evolutionary Medicine General Biochemistry Demographic economics Reduced Inequalities Biochemistry and Cell Biology business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | eLife eLife, eLife Sciences Publication, 2021, ⟨10.7554/eLife.59437⟩ eLife, Vol 10 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2050-084X |
| Popis: | Poverty is bad for health. People living in poverty are more likely to struggle to afford nutritious food, lack access to health care, or be overworked or stressed. This may make them susceptible to chronic diseases, contribute to faster aging, and shorten their lifespans. In high-income countries, there is growing evidence to suggest that a person’s ‘rank’ in society also impacts their health. For example, individuals who have a lower position in the social hierarchy report worse health outcomes, regardless of their incomes. But it is unclear why living in an unequal society or having a lower social status contributes to poorer health. One possibility is that inequalities in society are creating a stressful environment that leads to worse physical and mental outcomes. It is thought that this stress largely comes from how humans evolved to prioritize reaching a higher social status over having a long and healthy life. If this is the case, this would mean that the link between social status and health would also be present in non-industrialized communities where social hierarchies tend to be less pronounced. To test this, Jaeggi, Blackwell et al. studied the Indigenous Tsimane population in Bolivia who live in small communities and forage and farm their own food. The income and relative wealth of 870 households from 40 Tsimane communities were compared against various outcomes, including symptoms associated with depression, stress hormone levels, blood pressure, self-rated health and several diseases. Jaeggi, Blackwell et al. found poverty and inequality did not negatively impact all of the health outcomes measured as has been previously reported for industrialized societies. However, blood pressure was higher among people with lower incomes or those who lived in more unequal communities. But because the Tsimane people generally have low blood pressure, the differences were too small to have much effect on their health. People who lived in more unequal communities were also three times more likely to have respiratory infections, but the reason for this was unclear. This shows that social determinants such as a person’s wealth or inequality can affect health, even in communities with less rigid social hierarchies. In industrial societies the effect may be worse in part because they are compounded by lifestyle factors, such as diets rich in fat and sugar, and physical inactivity which can also increase blood pressure. This information may help policy makers reduce health disparities by addressing some of the social determinants of health and the lifestyle factors that cause them. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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