Human Capital, Wealth, and Nutrition in the Bolivian Amazon

Abstract:     
We analyze anthropometric variables of a society of forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon (Tsimane') in 2001-2002. Community variables (e.g., inequality, social capital) explain little of the variance in anthropometric indices of nutritional status, but individual-level variables (schooling, wealth) are positively correlated with nutritional status. Dietary quality (foods high in animal proteins), access to foraging technology, and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants are related to better anthropometric indices.

Keywords: Anthropometrics, Wealth, Human capital, Nutritional status, Tsimane′, Income inequality, Bolivia, Amazon, Indigenous populations, Height, Physical stature, Amerindians, Latin America

JEL Classification: I12, I32, N33

Accepted Paper Series