Low Maternal Capital Predicts Life History Trade-Offs in Daughters: Why Adverse Outcomes Cluster in Individuals

Some individuals appear prone to multiple adverse outcomes, including poor health, school dropout, risky behavior and early reproduction. This clustering remains poorly understood. Drawing on evolutionary life history theory, we hypothesized that maternal investment in early life would predict the d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in public health 2019-07, Vol.7, p.206
Main Authors: Wells, Jonathan C K, Cole, Tim J, Cortina-Borja, Mario, Sear, Rebecca, Leon, David A, Marphatia, Akanksha A, Murray, Joseph, Wehrmeister, Fernando C, Oliveira, Paula D, Gonçalves, Helen, Oliveira, Isabel O, Menezes, Ana Maria B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Community medicine, Social medicine: 801
education
growth
Health sciences: 800
Helsefag: 800
life history theory
maternal investment
Medical disciplines: 700
Medisinske Fag: 700
Public Health
reproduction
Samfunnsmedisin, sosialmedisin: 801
trade-offs
VDP
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Summary:Some individuals appear prone to multiple adverse outcomes, including poor health, school dropout, risky behavior and early reproduction. This clustering remains poorly understood. Drawing on evolutionary life history theory, we hypothesized that maternal investment in early life would predict the developmental trajectory and adult phenotype of female offspring. Specifically, we predicted that daughters receiving low investment would prioritize the life history functions of "reproduction" and "defense" over "growth" and "maintenance," increasing the risk of several adverse outcomes. We investigated 2,091 mother-daughter dyads from a birth cohort in Pelotas, Brazil. We combined data on maternal height, body mass index, income, and education into a composite index of "maternal capital." Daughter outcomes included reproductive status at 18 years, growth, adult anthropometry, body composition, cardio-metabolic risk, educational attainment, work status, and risky behavior. We tested whether daughters' early reproduction (
ISSN:2296-2565
2296-2565
DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00206