Polygamy: a cultural trait and maternal and child health.
This study indicates that it is probable that the cultural trait of polygamy was instituted as an adaptive measure in a particular ecology within a particular tribal group. Polygamy perpetuated because of its positive contribution to maternal and child health. The study further indicates that it is also probable that monogamy as a foreign cultural trait and its introduction without concomitant changes in other spheres of the ecosystem (biophysical and social environment) must have produced a negative effort on maternal and child health. The particular ecosystem is described and its effects on maternal and child health are pointed out.
D000354:Africa, Western; D001721:Birth Intervals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D004032:Diet; D005190:Family; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage