Sex differences in daily activity intensity and energy expenditure and their relationship to cortisol among BaYaka foragers from the Congo Basin
Dados Bibliográficos
| AUTOR(ES) | |
|---|---|
| AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | Department of Anthropology University of Notre Dame Notre Dame Indiana USA, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany, Simon Fraser University, Institut National de Santé Publique Brazzaville Republic of the Congo |
| ANO | 2020 |
| TIPO | Artigo |
| PERIÓDICO | American Journal of Physical Anthropology |
| ISSN | 0002-9483 |
| E-ISSN | 1096-8644 |
| EDITORA | Berghahn Journals (United Kingdom) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.24075 |
| CITAÇÕES | 6 |
| ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
ObjectivesThe pooling of energetic resources and food sharing have been widely documented among hunter‐gatherer societies. Much less is known about how the energetic costs of daily activities are distributed across individuals in such groups, including between women and men. Moreover, the metabolic physiological correlates of those activities and costs are relatively understudied.Materials and methodsHere, we tracked physical activity, energy expenditure (EE), and cortisol production among Congo Basin BaYaka foragers engaged in a variety of daily subsistence activities (n = 37). Given its role in energy mobilization, we measured overall daily cortisol production and short‐term cortisol reactivity through saliva sampling; we measured physical activity levels and total EE via the wGT3X‐bt actigraph and heart rate monitor.ResultsWe found that there were no sex differences in likelihood of working in common activity locations (forest, garden, house). Across the day, women spent greater percentage time in moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (%MVPA) and had lower total EE than men. Females with higher EE (kCal/hr) produced greater cortisol throughout the day. Though not statistically significant, we also found that individuals with greater %MVPA had larger decreases in cortisol reactivity.DiscussionBaYaka women sustained higher levels of physical activity but incurred lower energetic costs than men, even after factoring in sex differences in body composition. Our findings suggest that the distribution of physical activity demands and costs are relevant to discussions regarding how labor is divided and community energy budgets take shape in such settings.