![]() We use data from in-depth interviews of 190 householders in Ossu (mountains) and Natarbora (coastal plains), Timor-Leste, to query relationships of family composition, resource strategies, and their relationships to children’s growth. Subsistence and economic activities undertaken by households in the context of transition from subsistence farming to cash economies are sometimes seen as substitutable with only minimal reference to the households themselves. Activity in this population is high relative to other subsistence populations, possibly because children face the dual pressures of contributing to household subsistence and attending school. Household demands on child behavior may constrain children's ability to moderate activity relative to nutritional status. ![]() Both activity and growth are lower in the mountainous community than in the flat, coastal community. Variation in household characteristics does not predict child activity. Males down‐regulate both growth and activity relative to females. Children in the mountainous community show a slight trade‐off between activity and growth (P =. Physical activity in Timorese children is characterized by high levels of moderate ( = 8.8 h/day), no sustained vigorous, and little sedentary activity ( = 4.6 h/day). We model characteristics related to variation in activity, and subsequently, activity is modeled against growth, illness, and aspects of household and local ecology using linear mixed models. ![]() Using accelerometry, we measured physical activity over 2 years in 88 free‐living children aged 5‐19 years in two ecologically varying communities in rural Timor‐Leste. In subsistence agriculture populations, where child contributions to the household economy are common and energy availability is low, trade‐offs in energy expenditure between activity and growth may help explain poor growth. How energy is allocated has consequences for adult body size and other life‐history traits. Children allocate energy to physical activity, maintenance, and growth. The human juvenile period evolved as a period of learning and physical development in a family environment that subsidizes the costs of these processes. ![]()
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