International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume 14, Issue 7, 2017

Nutrition transition and biocultural determinants of obesity among cameroonian migrants in urban cameroon and France (Article) (Open Access)

Cohen E.* , Amougou N. , Ponty A. , Loinger-Beck J. , Nkuintchua T. , Monteillet N. , Bernard J.Y. , Saïd-Mohamed R. , Holdsworth M. , Pasquet P.
  • a Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte Internationale 3189, Environnement, Santé, Société, Faculté de Médecine-Nord, 51 bd Pierre Dramard, Marseille Cedex 15, 13344, France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
  • b Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • c Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • d Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • e Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • f Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • g Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France
  • h Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France, MRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
  • i School of Health and Related Research, Public Health section, The University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA, United Kingdom
  • j Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7206, Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, Musée de l’Homme, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris, 75016, France

Abstract

Native of rural West Cameroon, the Bamiléké population is traditionally predisposed to obesity. Bamiléké who migrated to urban areas additionally experience the nutrition transition. We investigated the biocultural determinants of obesity in Bamiléké who migrated to urban Cameroon (Yaoundé), or urban France (Paris). We conducted qualitative interviews (n = 36; 18 men) and a quantitative survey (n = 627; 266 men) of adults using two-stage sampling strategy, to determine the association of dietary intake, physical activity and body weight norms with obesity of Bamiléké populations in these three socio-ecological areas (rural Cameroon: n = 258; urban Cameroon: n = 319; urban France: n = 50). The Bamiléké valued overweight and traditional energy-dense diets in rural and urban Cameroon. Physical activity levels were lower, consumption of processed energy-dense food was frequent and obesity levels higher in new migrants living in urban Cameroon and France. Female sex, age, duration of residence in urban areas, lower physical activity and valorisation of overweight were independently associated with obesity status. This work argues in favour of local and global health policies that account for the origin and the migration trajectories to prevent obesity in migrants. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Author Keywords

Cameroon Determinants Migrants Obesity Nutrition transition France

Index Keywords

physical activity urban population urban area Cameroon rural area France Health Transition caloric intake Waist Circumference Population Dynamics human hip circumference sex difference middle aged waist hip ratio statistics and numerical data controlled study obesity diet Body Image Young Adult Cameroonian cross-sectional study migrant Humans male female residential area Socioeconomic Factors socioeconomics clinical article cultural factor prevalence Article disease control nutrition adult migration body weight age distribution Health Policy Cultural Characteristics Transients and Migrants body mass disease association nutritional status systolic blood pressure diastolic blood pressure Centre [Cameroon] Yaounde population migration immigrant population
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85021676356&doi=10.3390%2fijerph14070696&partnerID=40&md5=c6bee2cf1c0087006d7fd2b6ae3834a0
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14070696
ISSN: 16617827
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English