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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 4-4-2016 Costumbres, Creencias, y “Lo normal”: A Biocultural Study on Changing Prenatal Dietary Practices in a Rural Tourism Community in Costa Rica Allison Rachel Cantor University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Biological and Chemical Physics Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Cantor, Allison Rachel, "Costumbres, Creencias, y “Lo normal”: A Biocultural Study on Changing Prenatal Dietary Practices in a Rural Tourism Community in Costa Rica" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6199 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Costumbres, Creencias, y “Lo normal”: A Biocultural Study on Changing Prenatal Dietary Practices in a Rural Tourism Community in Costa Rica by Allison R. Cantor A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Anthropology with a concentration in Biocultural Medical Anthropology Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: David Himmelgreen, Ph.D. Rita DeBate, Ph.D., M.P.H. Daniel Lende, Ph.D. Barbara Piperata, Ph.D. Nancy Romero-Daza, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 23, 2016 Keywords: Nutrition transition, prenatal nutrition, critical biocultural approach, practice theory Copyright © 2016, Allison R. Cantor Dedication I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my grandmother, Renee Adler. She used to tell me that I would be the first female president of the United States. Although I didn’t go into politics, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without the love and confidence she gave me at such a young age. Acknowledgments First and foremost, thank you to all of the women in the Monteverde zone for your friendship and support during this investigation, which would not have been possible without you. I could not have completed this project without the support of the Monteverde Institute, whose never-ending supply of coffee and laughter kept me going. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee for their continued guidance. Nancy Romero-Daza and David Himmelgreen: I could never have imagined how far my academic career would take me when I met you in Monteverde all those years ago. Thank you for the continued support, friendship, and constructive criticism. I truly would not be here without you. Thank you. Thank you, Daniel Lende for your mentorship and teaching me how to teach without being over-prepared. Rita DeBate, thank you for your input from the public health perspective, and helping me to understand the realities of doing health-related research, which didn’t always fit with my own ideas. And thank you Barbara Piperata for your thoughtful, insightful, and honest critique throughout this process. I also want to thank my mother, Marlene Cantor, for telling me, “If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.” Thanks, mom, for helping me to make the dream of getting my PhD a reality. Thanks also to my dad, Perry Cantor. Unbeknownst to you, your frequent “check-ins” were responsible for avoiding many meltdowns. Sister. That is all. You know. I also want to thank my grandfather, Marvin Adler. You are now, and forever, my inspiration to always work hard, be happy, and have a sense of humor. Thank you to the Werk family. Without your love, food, and laughs I wouldn’t have made it to candidacy. And last but certainly not least, thank you to my loving husband. Thank you for letting me drag you on countless adventures while I worked towards the completion of my degree. I know that being away from family, friends, and chile was a sacrifice for you. Without your amazing cooking I wouldn’t have made it through one day of graduate school, as I surely would have starved to death. I would also like to thank the University of South Florida’s (USF) Department of Anthropology for awarding me the Dissertation Completion Fellowship, which allowed me to finish the dissertation. Also, thank you to the College of Public Health at USF for awarding me with a research scholarship to conduct the study. Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. x Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 : Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Costumbres, Creencias, y “lo normal” ................................................................................. 4 Positionality ......................................................................................................................... 5 Research Design ................................................................................................................... 8 Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 9 Overview/Organization of Chapters .................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 : Background: The Monteverde Zone, Costa Rica ....................................................... 11 Historical Context: Ticos, Quakers, and the Milkshed ...................................................... 14 Past Research in the MZ .................................................................................................... 18 Tourism Development in the MZ ...................................................................................... 21 Historical Context: Central America ..................................................................... 21 Shifting Nutrition in the MZ .............................................................................................. 28 Nutrition Transition ........................................................................................................... 28 The Nutrition Transition and Health ...................................................................... 30 Tourism and the Nutrition Transition in Central America ..................................... 30 Nutrition Transition in Costa Rica ......................................................................... 34 Nutrition Transition in Monteverde ....................................................................... 35 Critiques of the Nutrition Transition ...................................................................... 36 Food insecurity .......................................................................................... 39 Food Insecurity and Pregnancy ......................................................................................... 41 Maternal Diet ........................................................................................................ 42 Chapter 3 : Theoretical Perspectives ............................................................................................. 44 Epistemology .................................................................................................................... 44 The Critical Biocultural Approach .................................................................................... 45 The Critical Biocultural Approach and the Nutrition Transition ........................... 52 Life History Theory and Prenatal Nutrition ...................................................................... 53 Practice Theory ................................................................................................................. 57 Practice Theory and the Critical Biocultural Approach ........................................ 62 i Chapter 4 : Methods ...................................................................................................................... 66 Research Design ................................................................................................................ 66 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 67 Sampling and Recruitment ................................................................................................ 67 Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................................... 70 Methods Used ................................................................................................................... 72 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 72 Quantitative Methods ........................................................................................................ 73 Household Food Insecurity and Access Scale .....................................................