Siddhi Deshpande and Asher Rosinger are recipients of the HWISE Collaborative Accelerator Award (CAA), a funding opportunity to bring small teams of researchers (2-3 members) together to accelerate new theoretical, methodological, analytical, outreach, and educational collaborations related to household water insecurity”. HWISE funded Siddhi through the Collaborator Accelerator Award (CAA), which funded her to present in-person at the Human Biology Association Conference (March 2022) and allowed Dr. Asher Rosinger time to mentor her in data analysis, scientific writing, and science communication.
The research showed how water insecurity is associated with hydration strategies in response to water insecurity. They analyzed data collected in summer 2019 among 455 Tsimane’ forager- horticulturalists living in hot-humid, lowland Bolivia. We found that higher water insecurity was associated with increased odds of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), traditional beverages chicha fuerte, and liquor. Distance from the market was also associated with sugary drink consumption; villages closer to the market were more likely to consume SSBs, while villages further from the market town were more likely to consume traditional beverages for hydration. These findings suggest water insecurity predicts increased reliance on alternative hydration strategies such as SSBs or traditional beverages, and that degree of market integration further influences hydration strategies.