Gretel H Pelto
Biographic Data
| ID | 3582139 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gretel H Pelto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gretel H |
| FAMILY NAME | Pelto |
| SIGNATURE | PELTO G H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cornell University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 394 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 33 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Beliefs, values, and sociocultural patterns related to food safety in low- and middle-income countries
Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe
BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four villag…
“I Can’t Answer What You’re Asking Me. Let Me Go, Please.”
Cognitive interviewing is a method to develop culturally appropriate survey questions and scale items. We conducted two rounds of cognitive interviews with 24 pregnant women in Ethiopia and Kenya to assess the appropriateness, acceptability, and comprehension of general and micronutrient supplement adherence-specific social support scales. We stopped the first round of cognitive interviews after receiving negative feedback from interviewers and p…
Using ethnography in implementation research to improve nutrition interventions in populations
Implementation research in nutrition' is an emerging area of study aimed at building evidence-based knowledge and sound theory to design and implement programs that will effectively deliver nutrition interventions. This paper describes some of the basic features of ethnography and illustrates its applications in components of the implementation process. We review the central purpose of ethnography, which is to obtain the emic view - the insider's…
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (Wash), environmental enteropathy, nutrition, and early child development
There is scarce research and programmatic evidence on the effect of poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions of the physical environment on early child cognitive, sensorimotor, and socioemotional development. Furthermore, many common WASH interventions are not specifically designed to protect babies in the first 3 years of life, when gut health and linear growth are established. We review evidence linking WASH, anemia, and child grow…
Constructing maternal knowledge frameworks. How mothers conceptualize complementary feeding
Caregivers' responses to an intervention to improve young child feeding behaviors in rural Bangladesh
It Really Opened My Eyes
This study explored the effects of participating in action research on youth leaders who were already engaged in peer education activities related to HIV/AIDS. We focused particularly on effects related to their conceptualization of teaching/learning, but also cast a wider net to identify other changes. A first round of in-depth interviews was conducted with 21 youth peer educators, who led the participatory action research (PAR) in UNICEF's
Taking Care of Children
Bringing anthropology to bear on programs and policies in nutrition and health requires the application of both theory and method. This paper describes several examples, drawing from my experiences related to infant and young child feeding and management of infectious disease in children. Part of the task is reframing the dominant biomedical and economic models to encompass the sociocultural contexts in which caregiving behaviors are embedded and…
Leroy Et Al. Respond
We read Woolf and Johnson’s letter with great interest. The similarity of the findings for developing countries and the United States is impressive,1 as they reflect the influence of the shared assumptions in the research community that lead to low investments in research to improve the fidelity (quality) of health care delivery and utilization. We have a slight correction to make to their letter. Our research shows that 6 million (not 4 million)…
Current Priorities in Health Research Funding and Lack of Impact on the Number of Child Deaths per Year
We determined the proportion of research on childhood mortality directed toward better medical technology (i.e., by improving old technology or creating new technology) compared with research on technology delivery and utilization. We also estimated mortality reductions from a research-funding strategy focusing primarily on developing technology compared with one that also focused on delivery and utilization. Ninety-seven percent of grants were f…
Coping with a Nutrient Deficiency
Cultural explanations and management strategies for specific signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are explored in a Hausa-speaking community in northern Niger. Their interpretations of the etiology of nightblindness in young children and pregnant women focus on food-related causes, in which "lack of good food" is central. In parallel with the significance of food in the etiology of nightblindness, the recommended treatments are home food re…
Appraising Studies in Health Using Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP)
In recent years, rapid assessment procedures (RAP) have resulted in many descriptive health studies of potential utility to the wider social science community. However, as RAP departs from the in-d
Examining the gender gap in nutrition
Gender differences in nutrient and food intake were examined in Mexican Nutrition CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Program) infants (N = 75), preschoolers (N = 80), and school children (N = 91). No significant gender differences in dietary quality or quantity were seen for infants and preschoolers. For school children, the contribution of various foods to total energy intake (dietary quality) was also quite similar for girls and boys. Equity …
Studying Knowledge, Culture, and Behavior in Applied Medical Anthropology
In this article we argue that the concept of knowledge, as utilized by public health professionals, is best regarded as cultural belief as defined in anthropology. The implications of this position are explored, particularly as it relates to the development of a decision-making approach to the understanding and analysis of health care behavior. The methodological challenges posed by the new theoretical perspective that has emerged from the emphas…
Control of Acute Respiratory Infections
Bacterial pneumonia is one of the most important killers of children in the developing world, claiming more than 3,500,000 lives per year. To date biomedical interventions to prevent pneumonia are very limited. Consequently, the primary strategy to prevent mortality from this common disease is treatment: antibiotics, which can be administered at home, or hospitalization with oxygen support for severe cases. Although palliative remedies for cough …
Focused ethnographic studies in the WHO programme for the control of acute respiratory infections
Focused Ethnographic Studies (FESs), developed and sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) Programme for the Control of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), have facilitated ethnographic research dedicated to determining key household behaviors and understandings surrounding respiratory infections--particularly pneumonia--in children. The FES design emphasizes anthropological theory and methods while limiting the scope and duration of fie…
Perceptions of spreading fats among women in Helsinki whose households use only butter or margarine
Theory-driven behavioral intervention research for the control of diarrheal diseases
The household production of nutrition
Defining and interpreting food security, and measuring it in reliable, valid and cost-effective ways have proven to be stubborn problems facing researchers and programs intended to monitor food security risks. This paper briefly reviews the conceptual and methodological literature on food insecurity measurment, describes a particular method for distinguishing and measuring short-term food insecurity at the household level, and discusses ways of g…
Small but Healthy? An Anthropological Perspective
Rapid ethnographic assessment
Prevalence and age at development of enamel hypoplasias in Mexican children
Enamel hypoplasias, deficiencies in enamel thickness resulting from disturbances during the secretory phase of enamel development, are generally believed to result from nonspecific metabolic and nutritional disruptions. However, data are scarce on the prevalence and chronological distribution of hypoplasias in populations experiencing mild to moderate malnutrition. The purpose of this article is to present baseline data on the prevalences and chr…
Cultural issues in maternal and child health and nutrition
Research on determinants of breastfeeding duration
The main purpose of this paper is to suggest directions for future intra-cultural research on the factors that affect breastfeeding duration, especially policy-oriented research. A 2nd purpose is to call for a reexamination of the theoretical construct, biocultural determinants, with respect to infant feeding. The study compares determinants in 4 multivariate studies. One was carried out in Connecticut, 1 in a working class community in Scotland,…
Intra-Cultural Diversity
Recent anthropological research includes a growing number of studies which focus directly on issues of intra-cultural and intra-community diversity, rather than simply recording passing mention of "deviations" from norms or cultural patterns that are presumed to be standardized. Studies of behavioral and cognitive diversity are essential for understanding differential processes of social change, as well as other theoretical problems. We suggest t…
Rapid ethnographic assessment
Prevalence and age at development of enamel hypoplasias in Mexican children
Enamel hypoplasias, deficiencies in enamel thickness resulting from disturbances during the secretory phase of enamel development, are generally believed to result from nonspecific metabolic and nutritional disruptions. However, data are scarce on the prevalence and chronological distribution of hypoplasias in populations experiencing mild to moderate malnutrition. The purpose of this article is to present baseline data on the prevalences and chr…
Studying Knowledge, Culture, and Behavior in Applied Medical Anthropology
In this article we argue that the concept of knowledge, as utilized by public health professionals, is best regarded as cultural belief as defined in anthropology. The implications of this position are explored, particularly as it relates to the development of a decision-making approach to the understanding and analysis of health care behavior. The methodological challenges posed by the new theoretical perspective that has emerged from the emphas…
Small but Healthy? An Anthropological Perspective
Diet and Delocalization
Gretel H. Pelto, Pertti J. Pelto, Diet and Delocalization: Dietary Changes since 1750, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 14, No. 2, Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Production and Consumption Patterns on Society (Autumn, 1983), pp. 507-528
The Personal Approach in Cultural Anthropological Research [and Comments and Reply]
The personal approach in cultural anthropology, self-consciously and deliberately undertaken, perceives value in the unique combination of interests, personal values, theoretical orientation, imagination, sensitivity, and other idiosyncratic qualities embodied in a particular competent investigator or team of investigators. Because of the uniqueness of the factors through which the personal approach yields knowledge, the approach is not easily ta…
Cultural issues in maternal and child health and nutrition
Theory-driven behavioral intervention research for the control of diarrheal diseases
Using ethnography in implementation research to improve nutrition interventions in populations
Implementation research in nutrition' is an emerging area of study aimed at building evidence-based knowledge and sound theory to design and implement programs that will effectively deliver nutrition interventions. This paper describes some of the basic features of ethnography and illustrates its applications in components of the implementation process. We review the central purpose of ethnography, which is to obtain the emic view - the insider's…
Focused ethnographic studies in the WHO programme for the control of acute respiratory infections
Focused Ethnographic Studies (FESs), developed and sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) Programme for the Control of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), have facilitated ethnographic research dedicated to determining key household behaviors and understandings surrounding respiratory infections--particularly pneumonia--in children. The FES design emphasizes anthropological theory and methods while limiting the scope and duration of fie…
Constructing maternal knowledge frameworks. How mothers conceptualize complementary feeding
Current Priorities in Health Research Funding and Lack of Impact on the Number of Child Deaths per Year
We determined the proportion of research on childhood mortality directed toward better medical technology (i.e., by improving old technology or creating new technology) compared with research on technology delivery and utilization. We also estimated mortality reductions from a research-funding strategy focusing primarily on developing technology compared with one that also focused on delivery and utilization. Ninety-seven percent of grants were f…
Examining the gender gap in nutrition
Gender differences in nutrient and food intake were examined in Mexican Nutrition CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Program) infants (N = 75), preschoolers (N = 80), and school children (N = 91). No significant gender differences in dietary quality or quantity were seen for infants and preschoolers. For school children, the contribution of various foods to total energy intake (dietary quality) was also quite similar for girls and boys. Equity …
Caregivers' responses to an intervention to improve young child feeding behaviors in rural Bangladesh
The household production of nutrition
Defining and interpreting food security, and measuring it in reliable, valid and cost-effective ways have proven to be stubborn problems facing researchers and programs intended to monitor food security risks. This paper briefly reviews the conceptual and methodological literature on food insecurity measurment, describes a particular method for distinguishing and measuring short-term food insecurity at the household level, and discusses ways of g…
Research on determinants of breastfeeding duration
The main purpose of this paper is to suggest directions for future intra-cultural research on the factors that affect breastfeeding duration, especially policy-oriented research. A 2nd purpose is to call for a reexamination of the theoretical construct, biocultural determinants, with respect to infant feeding. The study compares determinants in 4 multivariate studies. One was carried out in Connecticut, 1 in a working class community in Scotland,…
On James's 'Continuity and Emergence in Indian Poverty Culture
Coping with a Nutrient Deficiency
Cultural explanations and management strategies for specific signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are explored in a Hausa-speaking community in northern Niger. Their interpretations of the etiology of nightblindness in young children and pregnant women focus on food-related causes, in which "lack of good food" is central. In parallel with the significance of food in the etiology of nightblindness, the recommended treatments are home food re…
On James's 'Continuity and Emergence in Indian Poverty Culture
Intra-Cultural Diversity
Recent anthropological research includes a growing number of studies which focus directly on issues of intra-cultural and intra-community diversity, rather than simply recording passing mention of "deviations" from norms or cultural patterns that are presumed to be standardized. Studies of behavioral and cognitive diversity are essential for understanding differential processes of social change, as well as other theoretical problems. We suggest t…
"Comments on Paredes' "New Uses for Old Ethnography
The Personal Approach in Cultural Anthropological Research [and Comments and Reply]
The personal approach in cultural anthropology, self-consciously and deliberately undertaken, perceives value in the unique combination of interests, personal values, theoretical orientation, imagination, sensitivity, and other idiosyncratic qualities embodied in a particular competent investigator or team of investigators. Because of the uniqueness of the factors through which the personal approach yields knowledge, the approach is not easily ta…
A note from the editors
The Cultural Dimension of the Human Adventure
Diet and Delocalization
Gretel H. Pelto, Pertti J. Pelto, Diet and Delocalization: Dietary Changes since 1750, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 14, No. 2, Hunger and History: The Impact of Changing Food Production and Consumption Patterns on Society (Autumn, 1983), pp. 507-528
The Medical Merry-Go-Round
Research on determinants of breastfeeding duration
The main purpose of this paper is to suggest directions for future intra-cultural research on the factors that affect breastfeeding duration, especially policy-oriented research. A 2nd purpose is to call for a reexamination of the theoretical construct, biocultural determinants, with respect to infant feeding. The study compares determinants in 4 multivariate studies. One was carried out in Connecticut, 1 in a working class community in Scotland,…
Prevalence and age at development of enamel hypoplasias in Mexican children
Enamel hypoplasias, deficiencies in enamel thickness resulting from disturbances during the secretory phase of enamel development, are generally believed to result from nonspecific metabolic and nutritional disruptions. However, data are scarce on the prevalence and chronological distribution of hypoplasias in populations experiencing mild to moderate malnutrition. The purpose of this article is to present baseline data on the prevalences and chr…
Cultural issues in maternal and child health and nutrition
Rapid ethnographic assessment
Small but Healthy? An Anthropological Perspective
The household production of nutrition
Defining and interpreting food security, and measuring it in reliable, valid and cost-effective ways have proven to be stubborn problems facing researchers and programs intended to monitor food security risks. This paper briefly reviews the conceptual and methodological literature on food insecurity measurment, describes a particular method for distinguishing and measuring short-term food insecurity at the household level, and discusses ways of g…
Perceptions of spreading fats among women in Helsinki whose households use only butter or margarine
Theory-driven behavioral intervention research for the control of diarrheal diseases
Focused ethnographic studies in the WHO programme for the control of acute respiratory infections
Focused Ethnographic Studies (FESs), developed and sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) Programme for the Control of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), have facilitated ethnographic research dedicated to determining key household behaviors and understandings surrounding respiratory infections--particularly pneumonia--in children. The FES design emphasizes anthropological theory and methods while limiting the scope and duration of fie…
Control of Acute Respiratory Infections
Bacterial pneumonia is one of the most important killers of children in the developing world, claiming more than 3,500,000 lives per year. To date biomedical interventions to prevent pneumonia are very limited. Consequently, the primary strategy to prevent mortality from this common disease is treatment: antibiotics, which can be administered at home, or hospitalization with oxygen support for severe cases. Although palliative remedies for cough …
Examining the gender gap in nutrition
Gender differences in nutrient and food intake were examined in Mexican Nutrition CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Program) infants (N = 75), preschoolers (N = 80), and school children (N = 91). No significant gender differences in dietary quality or quantity were seen for infants and preschoolers. For school children, the contribution of various foods to total energy intake (dietary quality) was also quite similar for girls and boys. Equity …
Studying Knowledge, Culture, and Behavior in Applied Medical Anthropology
In this article we argue that the concept of knowledge, as utilized by public health professionals, is best regarded as cultural belief as defined in anthropology. The implications of this position are explored, particularly as it relates to the development of a decision-making approach to the understanding and analysis of health care behavior. The methodological challenges posed by the new theoretical perspective that has emerged from the emphas…
Appraising Studies in Health Using Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP)
In recent years, rapid assessment procedures (RAP) have resulted in many descriptive health studies of potential utility to the wider social science community. However, as RAP departs from the in-d
Coping with a Nutrient Deficiency
Cultural explanations and management strategies for specific signs and symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are explored in a Hausa-speaking community in northern Niger. Their interpretations of the etiology of nightblindness in young children and pregnant women focus on food-related causes, in which "lack of good food" is central. In parallel with the significance of food in the etiology of nightblindness, the recommended treatments are home food re…
Leroy Et Al. Respond
We read Woolf and Johnson’s letter with great interest. The similarity of the findings for developing countries and the United States is impressive,1 as they reflect the influence of the shared assumptions in the research community that lead to low investments in research to improve the fidelity (quality) of health care delivery and utilization. We have a slight correction to make to their letter. Our research shows that 6 million (not 4 million)…
Current Priorities in Health Research Funding and Lack of Impact on the Number of Child Deaths per Year
We determined the proportion of research on childhood mortality directed toward better medical technology (i.e., by improving old technology or creating new technology) compared with research on technology delivery and utilization. We also estimated mortality reductions from a research-funding strategy focusing primarily on developing technology compared with one that also focused on delivery and utilization. Ninety-seven percent of grants were f…
Taking Care of Children
Bringing anthropology to bear on programs and policies in nutrition and health requires the application of both theory and method. This paper describes several examples, drawing from my experiences related to infant and young child feeding and management of infectious disease in children. Part of the task is reframing the dominant biomedical and economic models to encompass the sociocultural contexts in which caregiving behaviors are embedded and…
Medicine (20 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (10 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (8 works) · Anthropology (7 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Environmental health (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Psychological intervention (7 works)