• D Garnier, G Ndiaye, and E Bénéfice.
• UR 24 Epidémiologie et Prévention, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), BP 64501, 34394 Montpellier, France. dgarnier@mpl.ird.fr
• Bull Soc Pathol Exot. 2003 Aug 1; 96 (3): 223-7.

AbstractIn Africa, rural populations especially adolescent girls resort to urban migrations for labour in order to diversify and improve their livelihood. Their work and their living conditions may influence their health and development patterns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of these migrations on physical activity, nutritional and growth status of rural Senegalese adolescent girls. In 1998, within the framework of a longitudinal study of growth during puberty (n = 406), a sub-sample (n = 80, 14.4 +/- 0.5 years) was drawn in order to estimate physical activity, during three days, quantitatively by accelerometry and qualitatively by questionnaire. One part of this sample temporarily migrated to Dakar in order to work as maids (migrants, n = 40). The other part remained in the rural community of Niakhar in order to help their families in daily domestic and agricultural tasks and/or to attend school (non-migrants, n = 40). In 1999, sexual maturation of 331 adolescent girls (15.5 +/- 0.5 years) belonging to this group was based on stages of breast development and occurrence of menarche. Their growth and nutritional status were assessed with anthropometry (height, weight, mid arm circumference, six skinfolds). Adolescents were asked about their urban migratory histories and were divided into four categories according to the duration of urban migration: no migration (NM), short (S), medium (M) and long duration (L). These adolescent girls had a very high physical activity which is far higher than that of American girls. Migrants were more active than non-migrants (p < 0.0001). In 1999, as a whole, these 331 adolescent girls were smaller, thinner and less mature than adolescent girls from industrialized countries. Midarm circumference, body mass index (BMI) and fat mass index (FMI) were significantly higher with the duration of migration (p < 0.01), after adjusting for differences in sexual maturation. Growth retardation seemed more important for the adolescent girls who never migrated and for those who have the longest duration of migration (p = 0.05). At the beginning of puberty, there were no differences in height for age indice and BMI. Urban migrations resulted in an advanced puberty and an improvement of nutritional status (higher BMI, FMI and midarm circumference) but without catch-up in growth. These findings could be explained by precarious living conditions in rural area and by higher workload in urban area.

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