A study examines links between alcohol and fertility in a hunter-gatherer society. Humans are a polymorphic species with high diversity in growth and development. Life history studies of hunter-gatherer societies can offer insight into growth and development differences across populations. Fernando V. Ramirez Rozzi describes a link between alcohol and fertility in the Baka pygmy people of Cameroon, a hunter-gatherer society who exhibit a small body size related to low growth during infancy, but experience sexual maturity and first delivery at an age similar to individuals of other human populations. The study focused on the Baka population of Le Bosquet district in Cameroon, where birth records have been kept since 1980. In addition to birth records, the study examined chronological records of individuals and field data on fertility and mortality collected from 2007 to 2017. The study revealed that the Baka exhibit low infant and juvenile mortality, slow growth, and high fertility at an early age. However, the study notes a significant decrease in the fertility rate since 2011. The fertility decrease is most pronounced in the lower age-classes of the Baka, and corresponds with the arrival of cheap alcohol in the community, an observation supported by anecdotal evidence from Baka women. The work highlights links between alcohol and the fertility and survival of a hunter-gatherer society, according to the author.
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Article #17-19637: "Reproduction in the Baka pygmies and drop in their fertility with the arrival of alcohol," by Fernando V. Ramirez Rozzi.
MEDIA CONTACT: Fernando V. Ramirez Rozzi, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Montrouge, FRANCE; tel: +33-664006179; e-mail: fernando.ramirez-rozzi@cnrs.fr
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences