Nothing in Excess: Physical Activity, Health, and Life World in Senegalese Fulani Male Pastoralists, a Mixed Method Approach

Dominique Chevé, Enguerran Macia, Moussa Diallo, Loic Lalys, Amadou Hamath Diallo, Sidaty Sow, Audrey Bergouignan and Priscilla Duboz ()
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Dominique Chevé: IRL 3189 ESS, Faculty of Medicine, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar BP 5005, Senegal
Enguerran Macia: IRL 3189 ESS, Faculty of Medicine, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar BP 5005, Senegal
Moussa Diallo: Department of Modern Literature, UFR LASHU, Assane Seck University, Ziguinchor BP 253, Senegal
Loic Lalys: UMR 8045 BABEL, Institut Médico Légal, 2 Voie Mazas, 75012 Paris, France
Amadou Hamath Diallo: IRL 3189 ESS, Faculty of Medicine, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar BP 5005, Senegal
Sidaty Sow: IRL 3189 ESS, Faculty of Medicine, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar BP 5005, Senegal
Audrey Bergouignan: UMR 7178, IPHC, 23 Rue Becquerel, CEDEX, 67087 Strasbourg, France
Priscilla Duboz: IRL 3189 ESS, Faculty of Medicine, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar BP 5005, Senegal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the application of the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Survey (IPAQ-SF) in the rural Senegalese Fulani pastoralist population by combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Design and participants: For the quantitative method, 101 men completed the IPAQ-SF questionnaire measuring moderate, vigorous, and walking physical activity. Self-rated health, BMI, and sociodemographic variables were also collected. With regard to the qualitative methods, a total of 22 participants were recruited and interviewed. Four themes were addressed, including (i) physical activity (PA) and its definition, description, related experiences, and representations of social actors; (ii) PA and health; (iii) PA and sport; and (iv) the body and Fulani world of life (i.e., Pulaagu/Ndimaagu). Results: Sahelian herders have a high level of self-reported PA and a low amount of daily sitting time. The measure of PA as proposed by the IPAQ-SF is not adapted to the Senegalese Ferlo pastoralists, mainly because this scale gives too much importance to leisure-time PA, perceived as unproductive energy expenditure, which is factually and symbolically antinomic to the Fulani lifeworld. Thus, neither intense nor moderate PA is related to self-rated health. However, sedentary lifestyles are linked to self-rated health and, therefore, to mortality and morbidity in Fulani pastoralists. Finally, walking, which is the dominant PA during transhumance and herd surveillance, is related to BMI. It therefore represents a protective factor against the occurrence of overweight and associated chronic non-communicable diseases. Conclusion: The mixed method approach developed in this study has shown that the IPAQ-SF is not a valid measure of PA in the population of Fulani male herders from the Ferlo region, given that unproductive energy expenditure is incompatible with the Fulani way of life, which condemns excess and immoderation.

Keywords: biological anthropology; Africa; great green wall (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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