ArticlePloS one2013
Physical activity and modernization among Bolivian Amerindians.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tradeoffs between immune function and childhood growth among Amazonian forager-horticulturalists.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Trial
- Interindividual Variation in Chronic Inflammation in Northern Lao People's Democratic Republic.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Not All Stress Is the Same: Variable Associations Between Psychosocial Stressors and Urinary Cortisol Rhythms in a Small-Scale Subsistence Society.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- Experimental evidence of life history trade-offs during ultra-endurance physical activity.Evolutionary human sciences · 2026Article
- Physical activity and cardiometabolic health across an extreme lifestyle gradient.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Built environment is a key driver of cardiometabolic health in two Indigenous groups undergoing rapid lifestyle change.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Neurocognitive Disorders in the Elderly Quechua Population Using the Q-RUDAS.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Ectopic adipose tissue in subsistence populations with minimal coronary disease, large left atria, and very low rates of atrial fibrillation.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2025Article
- Inflammaging is minimal among forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Physical activity mediates age differences in cognition among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Article
- Arterial Stiffness in Heart-Healthy Indigenous Tsimane Forager-Horticulturalists.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Urbanization exacerbates age-associated declines in cardiometabolic health in Turkana and Orang Asli.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Low-to-Moderate Daytime Physical Activities Predicted Higher-Quality Sleep Among Habitually Active Agropastoralists.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Patterns of physical activity in hunter-gatherer children compared with US and UK children.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Higher blood lipid levels after the transition to menopause in two forager-horticulturalist populations.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2025Article
- Contemporary small-scale subsistence populations offer unique insights into human musculoskeletal health and aging.Science advances · 2024Review
- The influence of perceived stress and motivation on telomere length among NCAA swimmers.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2024Article
- The built environment is more predictive of cardiometabolic health than other aspects of lifestyle in two rapidly transitioning Indigenous populations.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Adolescence is characterized by more sedentary behaviour and less physical activity even among highly active forager-farmers.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPhysical inactivity is a growing public health problem, and the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Conversely, indigenous populations living traditional lifestyles reportedly engage in vigorous daily activity that is protective against non-communicable diseases. Here we analyze physical activity patterns among the Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists of Amazonian Bolivia with minimal heart disease and diabetes. We assess age patterns of adult activity among men and women, test whether modernization affects activity levels, and examine whether nascent obesity is associated with reduced activity. METHODS AND
findingsA factorial method based on a large sample of behavioral observations was employed to estimate effects of age, sex, body mass index, and modernization variables on physical activity ratio (PAR), the ratio of total energy expenditure to basal metabolic rate. Accelerometry combined with heart rate monitoring was compared to the factorial method and used for nighttime sampling. Tsimane men and women display 24 hr physical activity level (PAL) of 2.02-2.15 and 1.73-1.85, respectively. Little time was spent "sedentary", whereas most activity was light to moderate, rather than vigorous. Activity peaks by the late twenties in men, and declines thereafter, but remains constant among women after the early teens. Neither BMI, fat free mass or body fat percentage are associated with PAR. There was no negative effect of modernization on physical activity.
conclusionsTsimane display relatively high PALs typical of other subsistence populations, but of moderate intensity, and not outside the range of developed populations. Despite rapidly increasing socioeconomic change, there is little evidence that total activity has yet been affected. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among women than men, and Spanish fluency is associated with greater obesity in women. The lack of cardiovascular disease among Tsimane is unlikely caused by activity alone; further study of diet, food intake and infectious disease is needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.