Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Family Structure and Health in the Developing World: What Can Evolutionary Anthropology Contribute to Population Health Science?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Applied Evolutionary Anthropology

Part of the book series: Advances in the Evolutionary Analysis of Human Behaviour ((AEAHB,volume 1))

Abstract

In this chapter, we consider what evolutionary anthropology contributes to the study of population health, focusing specifically on family structure and its relationship to child and adult physical health. Evolutionary anthropologists have now built a substantial body of literature on relationships between family structure and various dimensions of human wellbeing, particularly in the context of small-scale ‘traditional’ societies and developing rural communities most at risk of poor health outcomes. Crucially, they have also constructed theoretical models to account for variation in key dimensions of family structure in relation to individual, ecological, and cultural factors. Thus, evolutionary anthropologists have much to say, not only about the extent to which specific family structures may influence health but also why certain family forms may persist or change across time and space. Here, focusing on studies primarily conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, we review the literature on three interrelated dimensions of family structure and their relationship to health: (1) family size, (2) polygynous versus monogamous marriage, and (3) the role of extended kin. Using these examples, we highlight the theoretical and empirical contributions of evolutionary anthropology and draw out implications for population policy and related initiatives seeking to improve family health in the developing world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abebe, T., & Aase, A. (2007). Children, AIDS and the politics of orphan care in Ethiopia: The extended family revisited. Social Science & Medicine, 64(10), 2058–2069.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams, B. N. (2004). Families and family study. International Perspective, 66(5), 1076–1088.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. D. (1987). The biology of moral systems. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, R. D., Hoogland, J. L., Howard, R. D., Noonan, K. M., & Sherman, P. W. (1979). Sexual dimorphisms and breeding systems in pinnipeds, ungulates, primates and humans. In N. A. Chagnon & W. Irons (Eds.), Evolutionary biology and human social behaviour: An anthropological perspective (pp. 402–435). North Scituate: Duxbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aloise King, E. D., Banks, P. B., & Brooks, R. C. (2013). Sexual conflict in mammals: Consequences for mating systems and life history. Mammal Review, 43(1), 47–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvergne, A., Faurie, C., & Raymond, M. (2009a). Variation in testosterone levels and male reproductive effort: Insight from a polygynous human population. Hormones and Behavior, 56(5), 491–497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvergne, A., Faurie, C., & Raymond, M. (2009b). Father–offspring resemblance predicts paternal investment in humans. Animal Behaviour, 78(1), 61–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvergne, A., Gurmu, E., Gibson, M. A., & Mace, R. (2011). Social transmission and the spread of modern contraception in rural Ethiopia. PloS One, 6(7), e22515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvergne, A., Lawson, D. W., Clarke, P. M. R., Gurmu, E., & Mace, R. (2013). Fertility, parental investment, and the early adoption of modern contraception in rural Ethiopia. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(1), 107–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amey, F. K. (2002). Polygyny and child survival in West Africa. Biodemography and Social Biology, 49(1–2), 74–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, K. (2006). How well does paternity confidence match actual paternity? Current Anthropology, 47(3), 513–520.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1981). A treatise on the family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begin, F., Frongillo, E. A., & Delisle, H. (1999). Caregiver behaviors and resources influence child height-for-age in rural Chad. Community and International Nutrition, 129, 680–686.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beise, J., & Voland, E. (2002). Effect of producing sons on maternal longevity in premodern humans. Science, 298, 317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, G. (1999). Aping our ancestors: Comparative aspects of reproductive ecology. Evolutionary Anthropology, 7, 91–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, G., & Mace, R. (2012). The pros and cons of substitute parenting: An overview. In G. Bentley & R. Mace (Eds.), Substitute parents: Biological and social perspectives on alloparenting in human societies (pp. 1–10). Oxford: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, G., Paine, R. R., & Boldsen, J. L. (2001). Fertility changes with the prehistoric transition to agriculture. In P. T. Ellison (Ed.), Reproductive ecology and human reproduction (pp. 203–231). Hawthorne: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blurton Jones, N. (1986). Bushman birth spacing: A test for optimal interbirth intervals. Ethology and Sociobiology, 7(2), 91–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, J. (1999). Evolutionary approaches to population: Implications for research and policy. Population and Environment, 2, 193–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J. (1978). A framework for analyzing the proximate determinants of fertility. Population and Development Review, 4(1), 105–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J. (1994). Population policy options in the developing world. Science, 263(5148), 771–776.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1987). On cultural and reproductive success: Kipsigis evidence. American Anthropologist, 89(3), 617–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1992). Women’s strategies in polygynous marriage. Human Nature, 3(1), 45–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1997). Marrying a married man. In L. Betzig (Ed.), Human nature: A critical reader (pp. 115–117). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1998). The demographic transition: Are we any closer to an evolutionary explanation? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 13(7), 266–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2000). Optimizing offspring: The quantity–quality tradeoff in agropastoral Kipsigis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 21(6), 391–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2007). Hamilton’s rule and kin competition: The Kipsigis case. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(5), 299–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2009a). Tradeoffs and sexual conflict over women’s fertility preferences in Mpimbwe. American Journal of Human Biology, 21(4), 478–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2009b). Serial monogamy as polygyny or polyandry? Human Nature, 20(2), 130–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2013). Human behavioral ecology—necessary but not sufficient for the evolutionary analysis of human behavior. Behavioral Ecology, 24(5), 1042–1043.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M., & Rauch, K. L. (2009). Sexual conflict in humans: Variations and solutions. Evolutionary Anthropology, 18(5), 201–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bove, R., & Valeggia, C. (2009). Polygyny and women’s health in sub-Saharan Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 68(1), 21–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowles, S., & Posel, D. (2005). Genetic relatedness predicts South African migrant workers’ remittances to their families. Nature, 434(7031), 380–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brahmbhatt, H., Bishai, D., Wabwire-Mangen, F., Kigozi, G., Wawer, M., Gray, R. H., & Rakai Project Group. (2002). Polygyny, maternal HIV status and child survival: Rakai, Uganda. Social Science & Medicince, 55, 585–592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bribiescas, R. G., Ellison, P. T., & Gray, P. B. (2012). Male life history, reproductive effort, and the evolution of the genus Homo. Current Anthropology, 53(S6), S424–S435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockerhoff, M., & Hewitt, P. (1998). Ethnicity and child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. R., Dickins, T. E., Sear, R., & Laland, K. N. (2011). Evolutionary accounts of human behavioural diversity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B, Biological Sciences, 366(1563), 313–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. R., Laland, K. N., & Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2009). Bateman’s principles and human sex roles. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24(6), 297–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C. (2005). On net intergenerational wealth flows: An update. Population and Development Review, 31(4), 721–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, M., & Potts, M. (2008). Effect of contraceptive access on birth rate. Science, 320(5878), 873–874.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm, J. S., & Burbank, V. K. (1991). Monogamy and polygyny in Southeast Arnhem land: Male coercion and female choice. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12(4), 291–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coall, D. A., & Hertwig, R. (2010). Grandparental investment: Past, present, and future. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(1), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronk, L. (1991). Wealth, status, and reproductive success among the Mukogodo of Kenya. American Anthropologist, 93, 345–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs, J. M., & Morris, R. (1990). Testosterone, social class, and antisocial behaviour in a sample of 4,462 men. Psychological Science, 1(3), 209–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, P., & Haberlen, S. (2005). 10 best resources for … measuring population health. Health Policy and Planning, 20 (4), 260–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, R. & Carlisle, T. R. (1976). Parental investment, mate desertion and a fallacy. Nature, 262 (5564), 131–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, S. (1995). When are children from large families disadvantaged? Evidence from cross-national analyses. Population Studies, 49, 195–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diallo, A. H., Meda, N., Sommerfelt, H., Traore, G. S., Cousens, S., & Tylleskar, T. (2012). The high burden of infant deaths in rural Burkina Faso: A prospective community-based cohort study. BMC Public Health, 12(739), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duflo, E. (2003). Grandmothers and granddaughters: Old-age pensions and intrahousehold allocation in South Africa. The World Bank Economic Review, 17(1), 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupas, P. (2011). Health behavior in developing countries. Annual Review of Economics, 3(1), 425–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, J. W., & Mayer, A. J. (1953). The social biology of very high fertility among the Hutterites: The demography of a unique population. Human Biology, 25, 206–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (1990). Human ovarian function and reproductive ecology: New hypotheses. American Anthropologist, 92(4), 933–952.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ezeh, A. C., Bongaarts, J., & Mberu, B. (2012). Family Planning 1: Global population trends and policy options. The Lancet, 380(9837), 142–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E., & Fischbacher, U. (2003). The nature of human altruism. Nature, 425(6960), 785–791.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortunato, L., & Archetti, M. (2010). Evolution of monogamous marriage by maximization of inclusive fitness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 23(1), 149–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, M., Sear, R., Beise, J., Ragsdale, G., Voland, E., & Knapp, L. (2010). Grandma plays favourites: X-chromosome relatedness and sex-specific childhood mortality. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 277(1681), 567–573.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabler, S., & Voland, E. (1994). Fitness of twinning. Human Biology, 66(4), 699–713.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaffney-Rhys, R. (2012). A comparison of child marriage and polygamy from a human rights perspective: Are the arguments equally cogent? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 34(1), 49–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon, A., Smith, K. R., Tremblay, M., Vézina, H., Paré, P.-P., & Desjardins, B. (2009). Is there a trade-off between fertility and longevity? A comparative study of women from three large historical databases accounting for mortality selection. American Journal of Human Biology, 21(4), 533–540.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaulin, S. J., McBurney, D. H., & Brakeman-Wartell, S. L. (1997). Matrilateral biases in the investment of aunts and uncles. Human Nature, 8(2), 139–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gettler, L. T., McDade, T. W., Feranil, A. B., & Kuzawa, C. W. (2011). Longitudinal evidence that fatherhood decreases testosterone in human males. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(39), 16194–16199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, M. A., & Gurmu, E. (2011). Land inheritance establishes sibling competition for marriage and reproduction in rural Ethiopia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(6), 2200–2204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, M. A., & Lawson, D. W. (2011). “Modernization” increases parental investment and sibling resource competition: Evidence from a rural development initiative in Ethiopia. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32(2), 97–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, M. A., & Mace, R. (2005). Helpful grandmothers in rural Ethiopia: A study of the effect of kin on child survival and growth. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(6), 469–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, M. A., & Mace, R. (2006). An energy-saving development initiative increases birth rate and childhood malnutrition in rural Ethiopia. PLoS Medicine, 3(4), e87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, M. A., & Mace, R. (2007). Polygyny, reproductive success and child health in rural Ethiopia: Why marry a married man? Journal of Biosocial Science, 39(2), 287–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, D. O. S., Russell, A. F., & Lummaa, V. (2008). When fecundity does not equal fitness: Evidence of an offspring quantity versus quality trade-off in pre-industrial humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1635), 713–722.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillett-Netting, R., & Perry, A. (2005). Gender and nutritional status at the household level among Gwembe Valley Tonga children, 0–10 years. American Journal of Human Biology, 17(3), 372–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, A., Koupil, I., & Lawson, D. W. (2012). Low fertility increases descendant socioeconomic position but reduces long-term fitness in a modern post-industrial society. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1746), 4342–4351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, P. B., Kahlenberg, S. M., Barrett, E. S., Lipson, S. F., & Ellison, P. T. (2002). Marriage and fatherhood are associated with lower testosterone in males. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(3), 193–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurven, M., Hill, K., & Kaplan, H. (2002). From forest to reservation: Transitions in food-sharing behavior among the Ache of Paraguay. Journal of Anthropological Research, 58(1), 93–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurven, M., Hill, K., Kaplan, H., Hurtado, A., & Lyles, R. (2000). Food transfers among Hiwi foragers of Venezuela: Tests of reciprocity. Human Ecology, 28(2), 171–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyimah, S. O. (2009). Polygynous marital structure and child survivorship in sub-Saharan Africa: Some empirical evidence from Ghana. Social Science & Medicine, 68(2), 334–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadley, C. (2005). Is polygyny a risk factor for poor growth performance among Tanzanian agropastoralists? American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 126(4), 471–480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, E. H., Barrett, H. C., & Price, M. E. (2006). Do human parents face a quantity-quality tradeoff?: Evidence from a Shuar community. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 130(3), 405–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, E. H., Hames, R. B., Craig, N. M., Lauer, M. T., & Price, M. E. (2001). Parental investment and child health in a Yanomamö village suffering short-term food stress. Journal of Biosocial Science, 33(4), 503–528.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour, I and II. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7, 1–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hampshire, K. R., Panter-Brick, C., Kilpatrick, K., & Casiday, R. E. (2009). Saving lives, preserving livelihoods: Understanding risk, decision-making and child health in a food crisis. Social Science & Medicine, 68(4), 758–765.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, K. (2003). Grandmothers and the evolution of human longevity. American Journal of Human Biology, 15(3), 380–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, K., O’Connell, J. F., & Blurton Jones, N. G. (1997). Hadza women’s time allocation, offspring provisioning, and the evolution of long postmenopausal life spans. Current Anthropology, 38(4), 551–577.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helle, S., Lummaa, V., & Jokela, J. (2002). Sons reduce maternal longevity in preindustrial humans. Science, 298, 1085.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helle, S., Lummaa, V., & Jokela, J. (2004). Accelerated immunosenescence in preindustrial twin mothers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101, 12391–12396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henrich, J. (2004). Cultural group selection, coevolutionary processes and large-scale cooperation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 53(1), 3–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K. (1993). Life history theory and evolutionary anthropology. Evolutionary Anthropology, 2(3), 78–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K., & Hurtado, M. (1996). Aché life history: The ecology and demography of a foraging people. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschenhauser, K., & Oliveira, R. (2006). Social modulation of androgens in male vertebrates: Meta-analyses of the challenge hypothesis. Animal Behaviour, 71, 265–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrdy, S. B. (2009). Mothers and others. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrdy, S. B., & Judge, D. S. (1993). Darwin and the puzzle of primogeniture. Human Nature, 4(1),1–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hruschka, D. J. (2009). Culture as an explanation in population health. Annals of Human Biology, 36(3), 235–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irons, W. (1998). Adaptively relevant environments versus the environment of evolutionary adaptedness. Evolutionary Anthropology, 6(6), 194–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. H. (2009). The force of selection on the human life cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(5), 305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josephson, S. C. (1993). Status, reproductive success and marrying polygynously. Ethology and Sociobiology, 14, 391–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. (1994). Evolutionary and wealth flow theories of fertility: Empirical tests and new models. Population and Development Review, 20, 753–791.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. (1996). A theory of fertility and parental investment in traditional and modern human societies. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 39, 91–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. S., & Gangestad, S. W. (2005). Life history theory and evolutionary psychology. In D. Buss (Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 68–95). Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H., Hill, K., Lancaster, J., & Hurtado, A. M. (2000). A theory of human life history evolution: Diet, intelligence, and longevity. Evolutionary Anthropology, 9, 156–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H. S., Hooper, P. L., & Gurven, M. (2009). The evolutionary and ecological roots of human social organization. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B, Biological Sciences, 364(1533), 3289–3299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H., Lancaster, J. B., Tucker, W. T., & Anderson, K. G. (2002). Evolutionary approach to below replacement fertility. American Journal of Human Biology, 14(2), 233–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, T. (1995). The foraging spectrum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kertzer, D. I., & Fricke, T. E. (1997). Anthropological demography: Toward a new synthesis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kindig, D., & Stoddart, G. (2003). What is population health? American Journal of Public Health, 93(3), 380–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kokko, H., & Jennions, M. D. (2008). Parental investment, sexual selection and sex ratios. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 21, 919–948.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, K. L. (2005). Children’s help and the pace of reproduction: Cooperative breeding in humans. Evolutionary Ansthropology, 14(6), 224–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, K. L., & McMillan, G. P. (2006). The effect of labor-saving technology on longitudinal fertility changes. Current Anthropology, 47(1), 165–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laland, K. N., & Brown, G. R. (2006). Niche construction, human behavior, and the adaptive-lag hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology, 15(3), 95–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamba, S., & Mace, R. (2011). Demography and ecology drive variation in cooperation across human populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(35), 14426–14430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, D. W. (2011). Life history theory and human reproductive behaviour. In V. Swami (Ed.), Evolutionary psychology: A critical introduction (pp. 183–214). Oxford: BPS Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, D. W., Alvergne, A., & Gibson, M. A. (2012). The life-history trade-off between fertility and child survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279, 4755–4764.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, D. W., & Mace, R. (2011). Parental investment and the optimization of human family size. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B, Biological Sciences, 366(1563), 333–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Bourg, E. (2007). Does reproduction decrease longevity in human beings? Ageing Research Reviews, 6, 141–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. (2003). The demographic transition: Three centuries of fundamental change. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(4), 167–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. D., & Kramer, K. L. (2002). Children’s economic roles in the Maya family life cycle: Cain, Caldwell, and Chayanov revisited. Population and Development Review, 28(3), 475–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, C. B., & Desai, S. (1992). Children’s living arrangements in developing countries. Population Research and Policy Review, 11(3), 193–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, C. B., & Ivanov, S. (1988). The effects of improved child survival on family planning practice and fertility. Studies in Family Planning, 19(3), 141–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Low, B. S. (2007). Ecological and socio-cultural impacts on mating and marriage systems. In: R. I. M. Dunbar & L. Barrett (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 449–462). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R. (1996). Biased parental investment and reproductive success in Gabbra pastoralists. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 38(2), 75–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R. (2000). Evolutionary ecology of human life history. Animal Behaviour, 59(1), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R. (2007). The evolutionary ecology of human family size. In Dunbar, R. I. M., & Barrett, L. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 383–396). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R. (2008). Reproducing in cities. Science, 319(5864), 764–766.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maralani, V. (2008). The changing relationship between family size and educational attainment over the course of socioeconomic development: Evidence from Indonesia. Demography, 45(3), 693–717.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, K. O. (1997). Explaining fertility transitions. Demography, 34(4), 443–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathambo, V., & Gibbs, A. (2009). Extended family childcare arrangements in a context of AIDS: Collapse or adaptation? AIDS Care, 21(S1), 22–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathews, P., & Sear, R. (2008). Life after death: An investigation into how mortality perceptions influence fertility preferences using evidence from an internet-based experiment. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 155–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1961). Cause and effect in biology: Kinds of causes, predictability, and teleology are viewed by a practicing biologist. Science, 134(3489),1501–1506.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDade, T. W. (2001). Parent-offspring conflict and the cultural ecology of breast-feeding. Human Nature, 12(1), 9–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meij, J. J., Van Bodegom, D., Ziem, J. B., Amankwa, J., Polderman, A. M., Kirkwood, T. B. L., de Craen, A. J, Zwaan, B. J., & Westendorp, R. G. J. (2009). Quality-quantity trade-off of human offspring under adverse environmental conditions. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22(5), 1014–1023.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mesoudi, A. (2011). Cultural evolution: How Darwinian theory can explain human culture and synthesize the social sciences. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, M. N., Marlowe, F. W., Bugumba, R., & Ellison, P. T. (2009). Testosterone and paternal care in East African foragers and pastoralists. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 276(1655), 347–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdock, G. P., & White, D. W. (1969). Standard cross-cultural sample. Ethnology, 4, 329–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2011). Flexibility in reproductive timing in human females: Integrating ultimate and proximate explanations. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: B, Biological Sciences, 366(1563), 357–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D., Gibson, M. A., Lawson, D. W., & Sear, R. (2013). Human behavioral ecology: Current research and future prospects. Behavioral Ecology 24, 1031–1040. doi:10.1093/beheco/ars222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D., & Pollet, T. V. (2008). Natural selection on male wealth in humans. The American Naturalist, 172(5), 658–666.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newson, L., Postmes, T., Lea, S. E. G., & Webley, P. (2005). Why are modern families small? Toward an evolutionary and cultural explanation for the demographic transition. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9(4), 360–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obonye, J. (2012). The practice of polygamy under the scheme of the protocol to the African charter on human and peoples’ rights on the rights of women in Africa: A critical appraisal. Journal of African Studies and Development, 4(5), 142–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Omariba, D., & Boyle, M. (2007). Family structure and child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: Cross‐national effects of polygyny. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(2), 528–543.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orians, G. H. (1969). On the evolution of mating systems in birds and mammals. The American Naturalist, 103, 889–603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panter-Brick, C., & Fuentes, A. (2009). Health, risk, and adversity: A contextual view from anthropology. In C. Panter-Brick & A. Fuentes, Health, risk and adversity (pp. 150–169). New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G. A., & Maynard Smith, J. (1990). Optimality theory in evolutionary biology. Nature, 348, 27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, J. K., Carter, H. B., Platz, E. A., Wright, E. J., Landis, P., & Metter, E. J. (2005). Serum testosterone and the risk of prostate cancer: Potential implications for testosterone therapy. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 14(9), 2257–2260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penn, H. (2012). The parenting and substitute parenting of young children. In G. Bentley & R. Mace (Eds.), Substitute parents: Biological and social perspectives on alloparenting in human societies (pp. 179–193). New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penn, D. J., & Smith, K. R. (2007). Differential fitness costs of reproduction between the sexes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(2), 553–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, R., & Harpending, H. (1988). Fitness and fertility among Kalahari!Kung. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 77(3), 303–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollet, T. V. (2007). Genetic relatedness and sibling relationship characteristics in a modern society. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(3), 176–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollet, T. V., & Nettle, D. (2009). Market forces affect patterns of polygyny in Uganda. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(7), 2114–2117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinlan, R. J. (2007). Human parental effort and environmental risk. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274(1606), 121–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall, S. (2008). African pastoralist demography. In K. Homewood (Ed.), Ecology of African pastoralist societies (pp. 199–226). Oxford: James Currey Ldt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randall, S., Coast, E., & Leone, T. (2011). Cultural constructions of the concept of household in sample surveys. Population Studies, 65(2), 217–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rende Taylor, L. (2005). Dangerous trade-offs the behavioral ecology of child labour and prostitution in rural northern Thailand. Current Anthropology, 46(3), 411–431.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2008). Not by genes alone: How culture transformed human evolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roeland, M., & Ties, B. J. (2004). Orphanhood and childcare patterns in sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of national surveys from 40 countries. AIDS, 18, S55–S65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roff, D. A. (2002). Life history evolution. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scelza, B. (2010). Father’s presence speeds the social and reproductive careers of sons. Current Anthropology, 51(2), 295–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, T. P. (2007). Population policies, fertility, women’s human capital, and child quality. Economic Growth Center, Yale University, Center, Discussion Paper No. 954, 55 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R. (2007). The impact of reproduction on Gambian women: Does controlling for phenotypic quality reveal costs of reproduction? American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132, 632–641.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R. (2011). Parenting and families. In V. Swami (Ed.), Introduction to evolutionary psychology: A critical introduction (pp. 216–250). Oxford: BPS Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R., & Mace, R. (2008). Who keeps children alive? A review of the effects of kin on child survival. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(1), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R., Steele, F., McGregor, I. A., & Mace, R. (2002). The effects of kin on child mortality in rural Gambia. Demography, 39(1), 43–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. W. (1999). Polygyny and child growth in a traditional pastoral society. The case of the Datoga of Tanzania. Human Nature, 10(4), 329–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. W. (2007). Evolution of infant and young child feeding: Implications for contemporary public health. Annual Review of Nutrition, 27, 123–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. (2009). Family structure and child growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing hidden risk. In C. Panter-Brick & A. Fuentes (Eds.), Health, risk and adversity (pp. 150–169). New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. W., Borgerhoff Mulder, M., & Sieff, D. (2000). Fertility, offspring quality, and wealth in Datoga pastoralists: Testing evolutionary models of intersexual selection. In L. Cronk, N. A. Chagnon, & W. Irons (Eds.), Adaptation and human behavior: An anthropological perspective (pp. 87–110). Hawthorne: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. W., & Mace, R. (1997). Fertility and mode of subsistence: A phylogenetic analysis. Current Anthorpology, 38(5), 878–889.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellen, D. W., & Mace, R. (1999). A phylogenetic analysis of the relationship between sub-adult mortality and mode of subsistence. Journal of Biosocial Science, 31(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanley, D. P., Sear, R., Mace, R., & Kirkwood, T. B. L. (2007). Testing evolutionary theories of menopause. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274(1628), 2943–2949.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenk, M. K., & Mattison, S. M. (2011). The rebirth of kinship: Evolutionary and quantitative approaches in the revitalization of a dying field. Human Nature, 22(1–2), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shenk, M. K., Towner, M. C., Kress, H. C., & Alam, N. (2013). A model comparison approach shows stronger support for economic models of fertility decline. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(20), 8045–8050.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smuts, B. (1995). The evolutionary origins of patriarchy. Human Nature, 6(1), 1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Starkweather, K. E., & Hames, R. (2012). A survey of non-classical polyandry. Human Nature, 23(2), 149–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, S. C. (1992). The evolution of life histories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, E. G. J., & Worthman, C. M. (2013). Child well-being: Anthropological perspectives. In A. Ben-Arieh, I. Frones, F. Casas, & J. E. Korbin (Eds.), Handbook of child well-being. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I. (1997). Polygyny as a risk factor for child mortality among the Dogon. Current Anthropology, 38(4), 688–695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I. (2011). Cooperation and competition in a cliff-dwelling people. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(S2), 10894–10901.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I., & Garrard, W. M. (2011). Alternatives to the grandmother hypothesis. Human Nature, 22(1–2), 201–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I., & Gillespie, B. (2002). Life-history theory, fertility and reproductive success in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 269(1491), 553–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I., Kurapati, N. T., Hug, B. F., Burke, E. E., Gillespie, B. W., Karafet, T. M., & Hammer, M. F. (2012). Religion as a means to assure paternity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 9781–9785.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 20(4), 410–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. Quarterly Review of Biology, 46(1), 35–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tully, K. P., & Ball, H. L. (2013). Trade-offs underlying maternal breastfeeding decisions: A conceptual model. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 9(1), 90–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van de Walle, E. (1992). Fertility transition, conscious choice, and numeracy. Demography, 29(4), 487–502.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voland, E., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (1995). Resource competition and reproduction: The relationship between economic and parental strategies in the Krummhörn population (1720–1874). Human Nature, 6(1), 33–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, R. S., Flinn, M. V., & Hill, K. R. (2010). Evolutionary history of partible paternity in lowland South America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(45), 19195–19200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westoff, C. (2003). Trends in marriage and early childbearing in developing countries. (Vol. 5). DHS Comparative Reports. Calverton: ORC Macro.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, D. R. (1988). Rethinking polygyny: Co-wives, codes, and cultural systems. Current Anthropology, 29, 529–572.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2004). The importance of caregiver-child interactions for the survival and healthy development of young children: A review. Geneva: Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, J. F., & Marlowe, F. W. (2006). Sex-biased migration in humans: What should we expect from genetic data? Bioessays, 28(3), 290–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C. (1957). Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence. Evolution, 11(4), 398–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wingfield, J., Hegner, R., Ball, G., & Duffy, A. (1990). The “challenge hypothesis”: Theoretical implications for patterns of testosterone secretion, mating systems and breeding strategies. The American Naturalist, 136, 829–846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winking, J., Stieglitz, J., Kurten, J., Kaplan, H., & Gurven, M. (2013). Polygyny among the Tsimane of Bolivia: An improved method for testing the polygyny-fertility hypothesis. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1756), 20123078. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winterhalder, B., & Smith, E. A. (2000). Analyzing adaptive strategies: Human behavioral ecology at twenty-five. Evolutionary Anthropology, 9(2), 51–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, T. K. (2005). Population health: Concepts and methods. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Alexandra Alvergne, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Heidi Colleran, Mhairi Gibson, Laura Fortunato, Shakti Lamba, Cristina Moya, Sara Randall, Ryan Schacht, and Rebecca Sear for critique. The preparation of this chapter was supported by funding to David W. Lawson from the Leverhulme Trust and to Caroline Uggla from a University College London Impact Award.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, London, UK

    David W. Lawson

  2. Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, London, UK

    Caroline Uggla

Authors
  1. David W. Lawson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Caroline Uggla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David W. Lawson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bristol Archaeology and Anthropology, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Mhairi A. Gibson

  2. Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

    David W. Lawson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lawson, D., Uggla, C. (2014). Family Structure and Health in the Developing World: What Can Evolutionary Anthropology Contribute to Population Health Science?. In: Gibson, M., Lawson, D. (eds) Applied Evolutionary Anthropology. Advances in the Evolutionary Analysis of Human Behaviour, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0280-4_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation