Mapping carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of fingernails to demonstrate a rural-urban nutrition transition in the Center-West, Northeast, and Amazon regions of Brazil

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this study is to investigate diet patterns among rural and urban populations of the Center-West, Northeast, and Amazon regions of Brazil through the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of fingernails, recognizing that the extent of market integration is a key driver of food consumption.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the Center-West, Northeast, and Amazon regions of Brazil, fingernails were sampled in clusters encompassing a major city, town, and rural village. A total of 2,133 fingernails were analyzed. Fingernails were clipped by donors using fingernail clippers. In the laboratory, samples were cleaned then weighed in small tin capsules before being isotopically analyzed for carbon and nitrogen.

RESULTS

The overall mean δ¹³ C and δ¹⁵ N were -19.7 ± 2.8‰ and 10.6 ± 1.1‰, respectively. In the more remote villages, where access to food markets is more challenging, lower δ¹³ C prevails, suggesting that Brazilian staple foods (rice, beans, and farinha) still dominate. In areas with easier access to food markets, δ¹³ C values were higher, suggesting a change to a diet based on C₄ plants, typical of a Brazilian supermarket diet. The variability among inhabitants in the same location expressed by a significant inverse correlation between δ¹³ C and δ¹⁵ N fingernail values suggested that "market integration" does not affect everyone equally in each community.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The nutrition transition has not yet reached some remote villages in these regions of Brazil or that the nutrition transition has not yet reached all residents of these remote villages. On the other hand, in several villages there is a considerable adherence to the supermarket diet or that some residents of these villages are already favoring processed food.