Research Summary:Bettina Shell-Duncan is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Washington. Over the past three years she has continued research on the interaction of biological and sociocultural determinants of maternal and child health in populations inhabiting the arid regions of northern Kenya. Her health-related research aims to contribute both to theory and to informing policy affecting the indigenous people. The focus of current research has been:
International Dryland Policy One of the central tenets of international dryland policy is that settlement of nomadic populations will result in health and economic improvements for the people concerned. Yet much of the empirical literature on the adoption of agriculture, commoditization of food, and social transition suggest that nutrition and health conditions may actually worsen. This research in nomadic and settled communities has evaluated the nutritional consequences of settlement and development for women and children.
Eradication of Female “Circumcision” The U.S. and other Western nations are actively campaigning to eliminate the female “circumcision,” a custom involving cutting and altering the external genitalia. Efforts to provide safer “circumcisions” by supplying medical support are deemed by Western governments and health agencies to be unethical, and complete abandonment of the practice is considered the only acceptable solution. This research has investigated the meaning and value of female “circumcision” for the Rendille, and evaluated the effect of medicalization in improving women’s health. The results of this research have recently appeared in a volume co-edited with sociocultural anthropologist Ylva Hernlund, entitled “Female ‘Circumcision’ in Africa: Culture, Change and Controversy.”
Iron Supplementation Programs to Reduce Anemia Anemia is widespread in Kenya, not only among infants and pregnant women, but also among school-aged children. The Ministry of Health has encouraged schools to provide iron-fortified lunches to reduce anemia in children. However, it has been shown elsewhere that iron supplementation may cause an increase in infectious disease, particularly malaria. This research aims to determine whether the beneficial effects of mild iron deficiency outweigh the adverse functional consequences in terms of overall resistance to infectious disease. The findings will help determine whether iron supplementation programs may actually, in certain settings, be harmful rather than helpful. Pilot research began in 1999, through support from the UW Royalty Research Fund. This work is currently funded by NSF.
Recent Publications:- Snipes, S.; Thompson, B.; O’Connor, K.; Shell-Duncan, B.; King, D.; Herrera, A.; Navarro, B., (Forthcoming), Pesticides Protect the Fruit, But Not the People… Using Community-Based Ethnography to Understand Farmworker Pesticide Exposure Risks, American Journal of Public Health.
- Brunson, E. K.; Shell-Duncan, B.; Steele, M., (2009), Women's autonomy and its relationship to children's nutrition among the Rendille of northern Kenya, American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council., 21: 1, 55.
- Wander, K.; Shell-Duncan, B.; McDade, T. W., (2009), Evaluation of iron deficiency as a nutritional adaptation to infectious disease: An evolutionary medicine perspective, American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council., 21: 2, 172.
- Gorstein, J. L.; Dary, O.; Pongtorn; Shell-Duncan, B.; Quick, T.; Wasanwisut, E., (2008), Feasibility of using retinol-binding protein from capillary blood specimens to estimate serum retinol concentrations and the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in low-resource settings, Public health nutrition, 11: 5, 513-20.
- Shell-Duncan, B., (2008), From Health to Human Rights: Female Genital Cutting and the Politics of Intervention, American Anthropologist, 110: 2, 225-236.
- Fujita, M.; Brindle, E.; Shofer, J.; Ndemwa, P.; Kombe, Y.; Shell-Duncan, B.; O'Connor, K. A., (2007), Retinol-binding protein stability in dried blood spots, Clinical Chemistry , 53: 1972-1975.
- Hernlund, Y.; Shell-Duncan, B., (2007), Transcultural bodies : female genital cutting in global context, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J..
- Hernlund, Y.; Shell-Duncan, B., (2007), Contingency, Context, and Change: Negotiating Female Genital Cutting in the Gambia and Senegal, Africa Today, 53: 4, 43-57.
- Shell-Duncan, B., (2007), Transcultural positions: Negotiating rights and culture, Transcultural Bodies: Female Genital Cutting in Global Context., Hernlund, Y.; Shell-Duncan, B., Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, NNH.
- Shell-Duncan, B.; McDade, T. W., (2005), Cultural and Environmental Barriers to Adequate Iron Intake among Northern Kenyan Schoolchildren, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 26: 1, 39-48.
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Ph.D. 1994, Pennsylvania State University. Demographic aspects of maternal-child health, social and health consequences of development, African society.
