Deck 6: Foraging

Question 1

One major reason that !Kung bodies differ Inuit bodies is that:

A) They belong to different racial categories
B) One group is not a foraging group
C) They live in differing geographic circumstances.
D) The !Kung do not have a healthy diet
E) The Inuit have little opportunity for physical activity

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Unlike most other foraging populations, the Inuit:

A) have a high-protein diet rather than a vegetal diet.
B) are tall and slender.
C) have very poor health outcomes due to their animal-based diet.
D) provides more than enough calcium, which is readily absorbed
E) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Research shows that the average age of weaning in non-industrialized societies is:

A) 2 ½ years old.
B) 4 years old.
C) 6 months old.
D) 1 year old
E) between 2-7 months old.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Breastmilk supply in a healthy mom is determined to a large degree by:

A) Oligosaccharides
B) Chemicals released during gestation
C) A mother's emotional connection with her baby.
D) Suckling or demand
E) None of these answers are correct.

Question 5

"Population-wide correlation studies have found that where co-sleeping rates are ____, SIDS rates are _____.

A) lower, lower
B) higher, higher
C) higher, lower
D) increasing; unaffected
E) decreasing; unaffected

Question 6

Nutrient 'bioavailability' is affected by:

A) cooking methods
B) every answer is right
C) storage conditions
D) how old a food item is
E) food processing methods.

Question 7

Which of the following groups is at the highest risk of bone loss or fractures due to Vitamin D deficiency?

A) !Kung women with babies
B) All forager populations share an equal risk of Vitamin D deficiency.
C) Inuit children
D) Inuit male hunters
E) Inuit women who are breastfeeding

Question 8

The Hadza population has a _____ diet and therefore a _____ microbiome.

A) high-protein; active.
B) low-fiber; diverse.
C) high-fiber; highly diverse.
D) high-fiber; constrained.
E) high-vitamin; very resistant.

Question 9

Given the following statements about classic forager workloads under regular (non-extreme) conditions, based on the !Kung situation, which is the most accurate?

A) Foragers have generally had to work twice as hard as us to put food on the table.
B) Foragers work 12-19 hours per week on average to keep themselves fed.
C) Foragers work less than 10 hours a week getting food.
D) The forager food-getting workweek is about the same as our own.
E) Foraging is a full-time job.

Question 10

Which statement about breastmilk/breastfeeding is true?

A) Milk-sharing is extremely rare.
B) High infant mortality rates are linked to a decline in breastfeeding practices.
C) An increase in breastfeeding practices is correlated to an increase in breast/ovarian cancer.
D) While bottle-fed babies are often overweight, they usually have a stronger immune system
E) While breastfed babies are often underweight, they usually have a stronger immune system

Question 11

Which of these can be classified as a good example of the cultural practice of co-sleeping?

A) A mother accidentally falls asleep while rocking her newborn daughter.
B) During a lightning storm, a child sneaks into the parental bed and falls asleep.
C) Having children sleep in a room next-door to the parental sleeping room.
D) When grandpa falls asleep on the couch while holding the sleeping baby.
E) none of the answers is correct

Question 12

Which group is biologically programmed for a polyphasic sleep pattern?

A) Infants
B) Adolescents
C) Pre-teens
D) Parents
E) Women

Question 13

The loss of foraging traditions had been caused by:

A) distantly generated industrial pollution making its way into the food chain
B) habitat or land encroachment by neighboring groups
C) intrusion by loggers, miners, and agricultural corporations
D) exposures to outsiders' diseases
E) every answer is correct.

Question 14

Among other things, nutritional fiber is/provides:

A) a meta-macronutrient
B) the matter from which our bodies are made
C) the human body's main energy source
D) food for the human gut's microbiome
E) a key source of stored energy for our bodies

Question 15

Which of these things does our gut microbiome NOT do:

A) produce certain compounds on which our bodies depend, including some of the enzymes that help us break down food
B) keep the gut's lining healthy and fight off certain pathogens
C) regulate appetite and immune function
D) actually the microbiome does ALL these things
E) influence mood as well as affecting food choices

Question 16

The organisms that live in our guts enjoy increased fitness when they:

A) Keep us healthy
B) Get us sick
C) Cue us to eat junk food, which has lots of calories
D) Remain concentrated at the place where the stomach joins the intestine
E) None of the answers is correct

Question 17

What do oligosaccharides do for an infant's body?

A) Feed the microbiome and lure away certain pathogens
B) provide protein for building muscles and organs
C) provide energy for things like learning to roll over
D) they are a source of fat
E) signal to the lungs to keep breathing in the absence of the sound of parental breathing

Question 18

In the USA, people from which group are most likely to be breast milk sharers?

A) conservative, home-schooling Christians
B) liberal White women
C) people with very progressive ideas about mothering
D) people who shop at Whole Foods, Lazy Acres, and similar high-end 'healthy' food stores.
E) people who recycle and avoid plastics

Question 19

Why did the !Kung tease the anthropologist Richard Lee about the ox he bought for the wintertime feast?

A) it was stringy and tough
B) it was just 'a bag of bones'
C) it was the wrong kind of ox
D) they do this to anyone who brings home big game after a hunting trip, to ensure that they do not become bossy or prideful
E) they are not friendly or kind people

Question 20

Which is NOT true of groups with alcoholic beverage brewing or fermenting traditions?

A) they generally had lots of potable (drinkable) water to use in brewing
B) they generally lacked ample potable (drinkable) water
C) they also had well-developed rules about when, with whom, where, and how much to drink
D) these populations sometimes underwent a small amount of natural selection for alcohol tolerance
E) B and D are not true

Question 21

Which statement regarding sleep is FALSE?

A) blue light at night (e.g., from screens) interferes with normal sleep
B) not enough sleep negatively affects our immune system and metabolism and causes us to have more accidents
C) sleeping in two or more partitioned chunks vs one long bout is not abnormal or a sign of a sleep disorder
D) cross-culturally, families often sleep together
E) foragers and those who live without electric lights always sleep in one long chunk, from sundown to sunup

Question 22

Some populations have the biocultural capacity to drink large amounts of alcohol with few or no problems. Why might this be so?

A) Their ancestors came from areas with plenty of good, clean water, and therefore they had highly developed cultural standards for alcohol use.
B) They are genetically more susceptible to intoxication.
C) Clean potable water was not often available to their ancestors; those ancestors more capable of metabolizing fermented drink had increased fitness.
D) They habituate to it, through binge drinking rituals.
E) Actually, no groups are more capable of metabolizing alcohol than other groups.

Question 23

The World Health Organization (WHO) experts recommend the exclusive breastfeeding of infants/children (with no supplementation) until what age?

A) 6 months
B) 1 year
C) 1.5 years
D) 2 years
E) 2.5 years

Question 24

According to expert recommendations, even after supplemental foods/liquids are introduced into a baby's diet, breastfeeding should continue until children are at least:

A) 4 years old.
B) 2 years old.
C) 12 months old.
D) 6 months old.
E) 1 year old.

Question 25

Why are bottle-fed babies more prone to obesity than breastfed babies?

A) Without breast milk, babies will not gain specific antibodies, which in some cases may alter the epigenome enough to turn off the 'agouti' gene.
B) There are specific additives in bottle formula that increase the fat intake of the infant.
C) Babies are more likely to be urged to finish the formula in a bottle than to empty a breast after the babies are full or sated.
D) Bottle milk is sweeter than breast milk, which primes the child to eat more sugary foods.
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 26

'Micronutrients' do NOT include:

A) vitamins.
B) substances that are necessary to process macronutrients.
C) proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
D) . minerals.
E) They actually include everything listed.

Question 27

What is a common MISCONCEPTION about the early human diet?

A) It was mostly plant based.
B) It was especially heavy on meat.
C) It included insects and bugs.
D) It included non-cereal plants and roots, fruits, nuts, legumes and leaves.
E) People ate lizards when they could catch them.

Question 28

'Phytochemicals,' as discussed in the context of nutrition, are NOT generally:

A) found in plants that grow in the wild.
B) harmful for humans to eat.
C) an ingrown or natural source of protection from predators or disease for the plants that have them.
D) antimicrobials.
E) antioxidants.

Question 29

When used in regard to diet, 'seasonality' does NOT refer to:

A) how available foodstuffs shift with the seasons.
B) the fact that what humans eat shifts with the seasons.
C) that how much humans eat shifts with the seasons.
D) whether or not a cuisine (diet) includes herbs or flavorings.
E) None of the answers refers to anything that has anything to do with seasonality.

Question 30

While the Inuit are foragers, they do NOT conform to the foraging stereotype because they:

A) hunt and gather.
B) break the two-thirds vegetal diet rule (instead, their diet is mainly meat/seafood).
C) do not utilize the resources in their environment.
D) have a diet that changes with the seasons.
E) have time to enjoy family life and leisure pursuits.

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT a benefit or quality of breastfeeding?

A) Breast milk is naturally sanitary (less likely to lead to infant illness).
B) Breastfeeding protects nursing women from certain forms of cancer.
C) Breastfeeding allows antibodies to travel from the mother to the infant.
D) Nursing women lose more calcium, which leads to higher bone density.
E) Breastfeeding is a natural form of birth control (although definitely not failsafe).

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT an evolved, adaptive behavioral system that enhances human fitness universally?

A) co-sleeping
B) breastfeeding
C) providing a newborn with a crib and his or her own room
D) giving birth prior to an offspring's full maturity
E) cooperative breeding or allocare

Question 33

What can NOT be inferred about early foragers from the ethnographic record?

A) They were well nourished.
B) They were physically fit.
C) They were safe from diseases or traumatic injuries.
D) They had plenty of leisure time in their lifestyle.
E) They led an active lifestyle.

Question 34

The original Homo sapiens sapiens subsistence strategy includes:

A) hunting only.
B) gathering only.
C) hunting and fishing.
D) gathering and hunting.
E) farming and fishing.

Question 35

Being a 'forager' is the same as being a:

A) browser.
B) hunter-gardener.
C) hunter-gatherer.
D) scavenger.
E) farmer.

Question 36

Another, better name for 'hunting and gathering' is 'foraging' because:

A) hunting was not as big a contributor to the diet as the former name suggests.
B) people never actually hunted and gathered their food.
C) horticulture displaced hunting and gathering very early on.
D) the former term is too long for today's short attention spans.
E) people either hunt or gather but there is no single group in the world that does both.

Question 37

Homo sapiens sapiens' original subsistence strategy includes:

A) Gathering only.
B) Hunting and fishing.
C) Gathering and hunting.
D) Farming and fishing.
E) Hunting only.

Question 38

The three key nutrient groups (also called 'macronutrients') are:

A) Proteins, carbohydrates, fats.
B) Proteins, calories, fats.
C) Fiber, Sodium, carbohydrates.
D) Protein, sodium, fats.
E) Carbohydrates, water, proteins

Question 39

Which subsistence strategy did nearly all behaviorally modern humans (people) use until 10,000 years ago?

A) agriculture
B) polyculture
C) hunter-gatherer (foraging)
D) monoculture
E) scavenging

Question 40

'Subsistence method' refers to:

A) a way of acquiring food from the environment or making a living.
B) an adaptive method for maintaining cultural homeostasis.
C) a technique for measuring the rate at which food is taken from the environment.
D) the particular method of adaptation which is most advantageous to a population.
E) how people get by when they have a sub-standard income.

Question 41

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are:

A) macronutrients.
B) phytochemicals.
C) the three most basic nutrients, which cannot be further broken down for digestion.
D) unhealthful.
E) micronutrients.

Question 42

The three key nutrient groups (also called 'macronutrients') are:

A) proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
B) proteins, calories, and fats.
C) fiber, sodium, and carbohydrates.
D) protein, sodium, and fats.
E) carbohydrates, water, and proteins.

Question 43

For most (the majority) of our evolutionary history, the human race has:

A) suffered from obesity.
B) subsisted on a largely plant-based diet.
C) been able to digest milk sugars (lactose) well into adulthood.
D) eaten a diet rich in grains such as wheat, corn, and rice.
E) occupied (lived in) Europe.

Question 44

Plant foods probably comprised or made up about ___ of the Paleolithic diet.

A) 2/3
B) 1/3
C) 1/4
D) 1/2
E) 7/8

Question 45

Meat consumption in early foragers' diets was likely:

A) very high, as cereal crops were unavailable until the onset of agriculture.
B) very high, as meat was essential for cognitive advances in human evolution.
C) less than a third of the diet, which mostly consisted of non-cereal plant items.
D) less than a third of the diet, because the tools for advanced hunting did not appear until much later.
E) negligible (made up about 0% of it).

Question 46

'Bioavailability' refers to:

A) the degree to which certain food sources are available (grow) within a habitat.
B) the degree to which nutrients may be extracted by eaters from a given food.
C) the degree of biodiversity found in the environment.
D) the degree to which the eater can equalize food energy intake and output such that there is no ecological footprint.
E) None of the provided answers is correct.

Question 47

Which of the following affects the 'bioavailability' of a food's nutrients?

A) how long the food has been stored
B) the soil in which the food is grown
C) if the food is cooked or processed
D) the manner in which a food is stored
E) All of the answers provided are correct.

Question 48

In comparison to today's overall food supply, nutrients in the food supply of the pre-historic hunter-gatherer:

A) had higher 'bioavailability' due to the freshness of much of the food.
B) were more likely to be extracted or eliminated during processing.
C) are about equal to today's, pound for pound.
D) encouraged overeating due to high fat content.
E) left many people malnourished even in times of abundance.

Question 49

Because it is such a key part of the !Kung diet, the mongongo nut is considered:

A) a macronutrient.
B) a subsistence.
C) an abundant potentiator.
D) a dietary staple.
E) Actually, !Kung people don't eat mongongo nuts.

Question 50

What is the traditional 'dietary staple' of the !Kung diet?

A) rice
B) the mongongo nut
C) yams
D) roots, bulbs, melons
E) yak meat

Question 51

The 'dietary staples' of foragers have mostly been made from:

A) meats, due to their high protein content.
B) cereal grains, due to their high carbohydrate content.
C) plants.
D) carrion or abandoned carcasses left by animal hunters.
E) No answer provided is correct.

Question 52

Biocultural diversity in rates of heart disease, diabetes, digestive disorders, and so forth ultimately reflects diversity in or between:

A) human biochemicals.
B) human subsistence patterns.
C) human genes.
D) biological races.
E) religious affiliations.

Question 53

The !Kung people present a classic example of what kind of subsistence mode or lifestyle?

A) horticulturalism
B) pastoralism
C) fishing and hunting
D) foraging
E) agriculturalism

Question 54

What do the dietary data, including protein and calorie counts, from the !Kung tell us?

A) Classic foragers subsist largely on plants and are well-nourished.
B) Classic foragers subsist largely on plants and are under-nourished.
C) Mongongo nuts are not adding much nutrition to the !Kung diet.
D) Classic foragers subsist mostly below the standard when it comes to protein and calories.
E) Yak meat is a nutritional super food.

Question 55

Regarding time and effort spent to feed oneself and one's family on a forager diet, Lee discovered (using !Kung data) that:

A) children are expected to forage for themselves from about the age of four.
B) men work twice as many hours as women per week.
C) both men and women work about 'half time' (compared to the standard US 40-hour work week) to hunt and gather enough food.
D) men and women work full time hours per week (c.40 hours) to hunt and gather enough food without assistance from the children and the elderly.
E) All answers are wrong; Lee never did any time use studies.

Question 56

The average work-week of a !Kung person living at Dobe (i.e., time spent in subsistence-related activities) was equal to about ___ of our idealized 40-hour work week/s.

A) one
B) two
C) one-half
D) one-fifth
E) nearly three

Question 57

Inuit bodies differ from !Kung bodies. These differences are ultimately due to:

A) racial differences.
B) dietary differences.
C) the unique geographic regions in which each group evolved and lives.
D) cultural differences.
E) differences in TV-watching habits.

Question 58

Inuit adaption to the harsh arctic climate includes which of the following?

A) stocky, short limbs, and blood vessels which quickly dilate
B) specialized clothing and shelters
C) a specialized diet
D) All three substantive answers are correct.
E) No answer given here is correct.

Question 59

Despite a diet high in fat, Inuit peoples are not prone to high blood pressure or cholesterol, and are less likely to have heart disease. Why?

A) They have adapted to a diet high in saturated fat.
B) The unhealthy consequences of a high fat diet are nullified by solar radiation, more common at the northern and southern poles.
C) The Inuit diet is low in saturated ('bad') fats, and high in Omega-3 polyunsaturated ('good') fats.
D) They have a special gene that instructs the body to convert fat into energy.
E) Actually, their diet is very low in fat altogether.

Question 60

Inuit foragers differ from the majority of foragers in what way?

A) They rely more heavily on animal than plant-based sources of food.
B) They rely on more nuts than berries.
C) They are settled in one place and live in very large groups.
D) They have genetic dispositions that dictate a particular subsistence style, unlike other dietary adaptations, which are cultural.
E) Actually they are no different; their nutritional intake is about the same.

Question 61

When it comes to breastfeeding and breast milk production:

A) the more an infant suckles, the less milk a nursing woman makes.
B) the more an infant suckles, the more milk a nursing woman makes.
C) the less an infant suckles, the more milk a nursing woman makes.
D) the amount an infant suckles does not affect the amount of milk a nursing woman makes.
E) milk production and suckling are inversely (negatively) correlated.

Question 62

What does the term 'colostrum' refer to?

A) the feedback loop whereby suckling infants have an impact on milk production
B) the main ingredient in infant formula
C) the beneficial fluid that infants glean from the breast before breast milk comes in
D) the 'after-milk' produced when infants are allowed to suckle too freely
E) the bitter substance some people put on their nipples to induce weaning

Question 63

'Colostrum' is packed with:

A) antibodies.
B) lipids or fats.
C) honey.
D) marrow.
E) toxins.

Question 64

The average age at which children are weaned from breastmilk in traditional, non-industrial societies is:

A) 6 months.
B) 1 year.
C) 2.5 years.
D) 5 years.
E) 1 month.

Question 65

In comparison to formula and food-fed infants, breastfed infants have:

A) fewer antibodies and poorer immune function.
B) a higher chance for being obese later in life.
C) more chance of gastrointestinal distress.
D) leaner bodies.
E) less protection against bacterial and viral infection.

Question 66

Higher rates of infant malnutrition, higher birth rates, ovarian and breast cancer have been linked to which of the following?

A) non-foraging subsistence patterns
B) later weaning ages
C) low rates of breastfeeding
D) high rates of breastfeeding
E) whether families use plastic or glass bottles for formula feeding infants

Question 67

'Co-sleeping' is:

A) accidentally falling asleep while sitting on the couch holding an infant.
B) a purposeful arrangement for sleeping in close proximity with others (e.g., in the same room or in the same bed with one's infant).
C) never a good idea, evolutionarily speaking, due to the threat of infant suffocation.
D) bed-sharing of any kind.
E) never polyphasic.

Question 68

'Co-sleeping' refers to which of the following practices or arrangements:

A) an energy efficient method of sleep which lowers the overall metabolic rate
B) a parent or caregiver and infant/child intentionally sleeping in close proximity
C) sleeping at the same time as other individuals in the community
D) maintaining a sleeping pattern that matches the sleep pattern in animals
E) when a parent or caregiver accidentally falls asleep with the baby on his/her lap or chest

Question 69

Science has shown that 'co-sleeping' can be beneficial because:

A) it is recommended and common in all cultures.
B) it supports breastfeeding and aids in the regulation of infants' cardio-pulmonary functioning.
C) it supports the nuclear family structure.
D) it suppresses snoring in fathers.
E) Under no conditions is it ever beneficial.

Question 70

SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) is positively correlated (co-occurs) with:

A) co-sleeping.
B) infants sleeping alone.
C) poverty.
D) putting infants to sleep on their backs.
E) traditional Japanese cultural patterns.

Question 71

Studies have shown that high rates of intentional co-sleeping are correlated with:

A) high rates of SIDS.
B) low rates of SIDS.
C) high rates of disordered sleep.
D) high rates of infant suffocation.
E) low rates of breastfeeding.

Question 72

As demonstrated in our regard to breastfeeding and SIDS, cultural evolution:

A) is very rare.
B) always entails (involves) improvements on past patterns.
C) takes about 100 years, on average.
D) can mean swapping protective behavior that is part of our long-term, evolved biocultural tool kit for dangerous substitutes.
E) depends on genetic change over time.

Question 73

Which of the following health problems was likely the most significant for classic forager populations?

A) high stress due to lack of leisure time
B) dental problems and parasitic and bacterial infections
C) protein deficiency disease, due to the low intake of meat
D) constipation or bowel trouble, due to low levels of fiber intake
E) cancer, heart disease, and diabetes

Question 74

In comparison to meat from domesticated animals, wild game meat (the kind that would have been eaten by our hunter-gatherer ancestors):

A) tastes better no matter what culture you are a member of.
B) is much leaner.
C) has more juicy fat in it.
D) is much less nourishing overall.
E) was the major part (proportion) of the hunter-gatherer diet.