Abstract
In this paper data from a Tanzanian horticultural population are used to assess whether mother’s kin network size predicts several measures of children’s health and well-being, and whether any kin effects are modified by household socioeconomic status. This hypothesis is further tested with a questionnaire on maternal attitudes towards kin. Results show small associations between measures of maternal kin network size and child mortality and children’s growth performance. Together these results suggest that kin positively influence child health, but the effects are small and it is unlikely that the high prevalence of undernutrition observed in this setting is influenced by the availability of kin.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiken, L., S. West, and R. Reno 1991 Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park, California: Sage.
Armitage, K., and O. Schwartz 2000 Social Enhancement of Fitness in Yellow-Bellied Marmots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 97:12149–12152.
Axinn, W., L. Pearce, and D. Ghimire 1999 Innovations in Life History Calendar Applications. Social Science Research 28:243–264.
Bereczkei, T. 1998 Kinship Network, Direct Childcare, and Fertility among Hungarians and Gypsies. Evolution and Human Behavior 19:283–298.
Bernard, H. 1994 Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Blurton Jones, N. 1984 A Selfish Origin for Human Food Sharing: Tolerated Theft. Ethology and Sociobiology 5:1–3.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M. 1985 Factors Affecting Infant Care in the Kipsigis. Journal of Anthropological Research 41:231–262.
1998 Brothers and Sisters: How Sibling Interactions Affect Optimal Parental Allocations. Human Nature 9:119–162.
Bove, R., C. Valeggia, and P. Ellison 2002 Girl Helpers and Time Allocation of Nursing Women among the Toba of Argentina. Human Nature 13:457–472.
Chen, F., S. Short, and B. Entwisle 2000 The Impact of Grandparental Proximity on Maternal Childcare in China. Population Research and Policy Review 19:571–590.
Das Gupta, M. 1997 Kinship Systems and Demographic Regimes. In Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis, D. Kertzer and T. Fricke, eds. Pp. 36–53. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dyson, T., and M. Moore 1983 On Kinship Structure, Female Autonomy, and Demographic Behavior in India. Population and Development Review 9:35–60.
Ezzati, M., A. Lopez, A. Rodgers, S. Hoorn, and C. Murray 2002 Selected Major Risk Factors and Global and Regional Burden of Disease. The Lancet 360:1347–1360.
Fix, A. 1999 Migration and Colonization in Human Microevolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Haddad, L., J. Hoddinott, and H. Alderman 1997 Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Developing Countries: Models, Methods, and Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hamilton, W. 1964 The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour, I & II. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–52.
Hawkes, K., J. O’Connell, N. Blurton Jones, H. Alvarez, and E. Charnov 1998 Grandmothering, Menopause, and the Evolution of Human Life Histories. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 95:1336–1339.
Hill, K., and M. Hurtado 1996 Aché Life History: The Ecology and Demography of a Foraging People. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Kertzer, D., and T. Fricke 1997 Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lamontagne, J., P. Engle, and M. Zeitlin 1998 Maternal Employment, Child Care, and Nutritional Status of 12- to 18- Month-Old Children in Managua, Nicaragua. Social Science & Medicine 46:403–414.
LeVine, R. 1994 Child Care and Culture: Lessons from Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Pelletier, D. 1994 The Relationship between Child Anthropometry and Mortality in Developing Countries: Implications for Policy, Programs and Future Research. Journal of Nutrition 124: s2047-s2081.
Schroeder, D., and K. Brown 1994 Nutritional Status as a Predictor of Child Survival: Summarizing the Association and Quantifying Its Global Impact. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 72:569–579.
Sear, R., R. Mace, and I. McGregor 2000 Maternal Grandmothers Improve Nutritional Status and Survival of Children in Rural Gambia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 267:1641–1647.
Sear, R, F. Steele, I. McGregor, and R. Mace 2002 The Effects of Kin on Child Mortality in Rural Gambia. Demography 39:43–63.
Sellen, D. 2003 Nutritional Consequences of Wealth Differentials in East African Pastoralists: The Case of the Datoga of Northern Tanzania. Human Ecology 31:529–570.
Shorr, I. 1986 How to Weigh and Measure Children: Assessing the Nutritional Status of Young Children in Household Surveys. New York: United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development and Statistical Office.
Smuts, B. 1995 The Evolutionary Origins of Patriarchy. Human Nature 6:1–32.
Turke, P. 1988 Helpers at the Nest: Childcare Networks on Ifaluk. In Human Reproductive Behavior, L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Turke, eds. Pp. 173–188. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Weisner, T., and R. Gallimore 1977 My Brother’s Keeper: Child and Sibling Caretaking. Current Anthropology 18:169–190.
West, S., M. Murray, C. Machado, A. Griffin, and E. Herre 2001 Testing Hamilton’s Rule with Competition between Relatives. Nature 409:510–513.
Willis, R. 1966 The Fipa and Related Peoples of South-West Tanzania and North-East Zambia. London: International African Institute.
Wilson, A. 1998 The Paradox of Polygyny among the Mamprusi. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Davis.
World Bank 2000 Agriculture in Tanzania since 1986: Follower or Leader of Growth? Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Craig Hadley (Ph.D. Anthropology and D.E. International Nutrition, University of California, Davis, 2003) is a postdoctoral fellow in Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University. His research interests are in children’s well-being and nutrition, with a geographic focus in East Africa.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hadley, C. The costs and benefits of kin. Hum Nat 15, 377–395 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-004-1015-7
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-004-1015-7