Dietary transformation and health vulnerability following lake poopó degradation: a cross sectional study in the indigenous Uru Vilañeque Community
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63688/desarrollo.v3.i2.46Keywords:
ecosystem degradation, health vulnerability, dietary transformation, Indigenous Peoples, Lake Poopó.Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the association of occupational transformation, dietary transformation, and current environmental exposure with family health vulnerability in the Indigenous Uru Vilañeque community following the degradation of Lake Poopó, Bolivia. Methodology: A quantitative, observational, retrospective, and cross-sectional study was conducted using a census of 32 families. A 40-item structured survey was used to comparatively reconstruct previous and current conditions related to occupation, food consumption, household materials, diseases, and symptoms. Normalized indices of occupational transformation, dietary transformation, environmental transformation, current environmental risk, and health vulnerability were constructed. The analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, ordinary least squares regression, Beta regression, and diagnostic tests. Results: Mean dietary transformation was 0.744, current environmental risk was 0.890, and global health vulnerability was 0.740. Dietary transformation showed the most consistent bivariate association with symptomatic vulnerability (r=0.440; p=0.012). In the reduced Beta regression re-estimated with 31 observations, dietary transformation remained positively and statistically significantly associated with symptomatic vulnerability (β=3.432; p=0.007), whereas the current environmental indicator was not significant (p=0.213). Comparison of Beta specifications on 29 complete cases favored the reduced model according to AIC and BIC. Conclusion: Among the families studied, dietary transformation was the socio-ecological dimension most closely associated with symptomatic vulnerability. The findings support integrating food systems, health, and socio-ecological adaptation when analyzing Indigenous communities affected by ecosystem degradation, while avoiding causal interpretations from a cross-sectional design.References
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