L2 Flashcards
What is Kwashiorkor?
A form of malnutrition caused by insufficient protein intake with sufficient energy
What is Marasmus?
A form of malnutrition caused by insufficient energy intake
What are some social responses to hunger?
Shame, heroism, and exoticism. In some cultures, hunger is incorporated into folklore and religious narratives. E.g. Institutions like soup kitchens are seen as mechanisms to transform behavior, not just to provide food.
When did hunger become a more widely studied issue?
After white Europeans began to die in Nazi concentration camps, leading to more attention on hunger (Scheper-Hughes, 1995)
What are the long-term effects of hunger?
Acute wasting, stunting, vulnerability to diseases (diarrhea, tuberculosis), cognitive impairments, and low health in babies
What is the Neo-Malthusian explanation for chronic hunger? (Bio-Ecological View)
It views malnutrition and chronic hunger as part of an adaptation process, such as stunting to survive on less food, referred to as “Pygmytization”
How does food relate to social organization and power?
Food is used to organize social relations. For example, soup kitchens often carried a moralizing attitude, suggesting that hunger was linked to personal or moral failure
What are some coping mechanisms during a famine?
Postponing marriage/childbirth, pawning children, prostitution, infanticide, cannibalism
What are the stages in the famine process? (Walker, 1989)
- Overcoming normal stress (rationing food, diversifying income)
- Irreversible strategies (selling livestock, mortgaging land)
- Dependence on food aid
- Starvation and death
What are the stages of response to hunger? (Thomas et al., 1986)
- Exploration: Hyper-activity, intensification, expanding networks, social unrest
- Retrenchment: Hypo-activity, secret stockpiling, marginal segments drop out, theft and violence
Exhaustion: Day-to-day survival, criminality, break-up of social units
What is malnutrition?
A condition resulting from insufficient intake of nutrients, leading to health issues such as wasting (acute malnutrition) and stunting (chronic malnutrition)
What is the difference between acute and chronic malnutrition?
Acute malnutrition (wasting): Rapid weight loss or failure to gain weight
Chronic malnutrition (stunting): Long-term insufficient nutrient intake, leading to impaired growth and development
How has humanitarian aid evolved in response to hunger?
Aid has shifted from local soup kitchens to medicalized, individualized interventions, often based on scientific measures like anthropometry (Scott-Smith, 2020)
