lecture 4- population and health Flashcards
Population
the number of people bound in an area
(ex. world population about 8.2B)
Cencus
means “to assess”, who is living in the area you are overseeing
- does not reflect undocumented people, homeless people etc.
-done every 4-6 years, expensive
Population density (arithmetic density)
= the number of humans living per unit land in the area
- ex. population density of Canada is 4 people per square km
- cities are areas of population and economic density
Physiological density
number of people per unit of arable land
enough food or resources?
Agricultural density
number of farmers per amount of arable land
Population clusters
(where is most of the world populated and why)
-2/3 of the world’s inhabitants live in four regions: East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe
-the 4 regions generally have low-lying areas, temperate climate (not too much variation), soil good for agriculture (2 crop seasons/year)
Demographics
= the different characteristics of a population
Ex. age, sex, gender, income, occupation, race, health (lifespan), family structure…
Measuring population and fertility
crude birth rate
total fertility rate
Crude birth rate (CBR)=
total number of live births per year for every 1000 people
Total fertility rate (TFR)=
average number of children a woman aged 15-49 will have
CBR and TFR tend to be higher in which countires?
developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa
which regions are we seeing dramatic decline in CBR and TFR?
Parts of Europe and East Asia
Measuring population mortality
Crude death rate (CDR)
Infant mortality rate
Maternal mortality rate
Life expectancy
Crude death rate (CDR)=
total number of deaths in a year for every 1000 people
Infant mortality rate=
number of live births that die within 1 year per 1000 people
Maternal mortality rate=
number of mothers that die as a direct result of childbirth in a year per 100,000 people
Life expectancy=
how long you are expected to live in a society
NIR=
= (CBR-CDR)/10
population growth: the natural increase rate (NIR)=
the percent by which a population grows in a year
population: Doubling time
number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant natural increase rate
Population pyramids
= represents a country by age and sex distributions
-splits the sex ratio between male and female
-split by age
- Expansive pyramid
a large amount of population is younger, smaller workforce=child labour?,
not enough people paying taxes,
can lead to youth unemployment as the population grows (ex. Nigeria)
- Constrictive or stationary pyramid (even/stationary distribution for younger and older people)
- most of the world is in this pyramid
- roughly same amount of people moving in and out of population/workforce
-slow but manageable growth
-workforce supports the younger and older population
(ex. Cambodia)
NIR= 1 is roughly stable
3.
Reductive/stationary/
stagnant pyramid:
swelling at the top rather than the bottom, not enough young people (ex. Japan)
NIR below zero (roughly)
Social problems can stem from population problems
- hollowing out of the workforce/middle aged population in Sint Martin to move out of the country to support their parents
- large number of males in the workforce in unites Arab emirates and Qatar due to relocation for work creates an unequal ratio of males to females= social tension, not good for family planning
Demographic transition
=showcases the societal transition from low NIR, to high NIR and back to low NIR
4 stages broken up by technological and societal changes:
Used to be called “first world, third world etc.”
demographic transition: stage 1
= low growth
-Most of human history
-Hunter gatherer societies
-Growth is largely linked to food supply
demographic transition: stage 2
= high growth
-Dramatic decline in death rates
-Increasing birth rates (steady)
-Increase in natural increase rate (NIR)
-Mostly driven by technological advances!!!! (immunization…)
-It is easier to stop people from dying than convince them to reproduce
-The area between births and deaths increases, large increase in population
demographic transition: stage 3
= decreasing growth
-Decrease in birth rate
-Decrease in death rate (steady)
-Decrease NIR (but still a positive number, above zero)
-Still a stable population because people are living longer, still more births than deaths
-Largely socioeconomically driven!!!
-Women in the workforce due to inflation and cost of living
-Population starts to stagnate at this point
demographic transition: stage 4
= low growth
-Decrease in birth rates
-Slight increase in death rates; lack of support/resources for the growing aging population
-Decrease in NIR (even more)
-Driven socially; both parents working is normal
-“Greying population”
-Higher standard of living
where are we in the demographic transition now?
Stage 4, low growth
possibly pushing into an unknown 5th stage
demographic transition: 5th stage?
-Japan promoting marriage to raise the birthrate
-Eldercare (hospital visits, medicine… is a lot more expensive compared to childcare)
–> puts a strain on the economy
-social unrest
-socially driven
Epidemiological transition (4 stages)
Stage 1: pestilence and famine
- epidemics and pandemics were the primary cause of human death
Ex. black plague
Stage 2: receding pandemics
- improved sanitation, nutrition, industrial revolution medical advances
Stage 3: degenerative diseases
- decrease in deaths from infectious diseases
- increase in chronic disorders and degenerative diseases
(ex. CVD, cancer)
Stage 4: delayed degenerative and lifestyle diseases
- same causes of death but lifespan is increased due to medical advances and behavioural changes
-behavioural changes= diet, exercise, tobacco and alcohol use
Malthus’s Theory (1798), united kingdom
-population grows more rapidly than food supply
-unmanaged growth of a population cannot be supported by a finite food supply
-could lead to a “Malthusian Catastrophe” resulting in famine, war, and a decline in society
-known as Carrying Capacity in ecology
problems with Malthus’ Theory
Substantial influence on policy makers
Social Darwinism and eugenics
Only certain people should be allowed to reproduce
–> classist and racist implications
**slippery slope! Went from a theory about avoiding catastrophe and overpopulation to a very racist and classist ideology.
2 political/social outcomes of Malthus’ theory
- the poor law amendment act of 1834
- the poor should be able to feed themselves, wealthy people no longer required to feed them
-justified using Malthus’s logic - Irish potato famine of 1840s
Neo-Malthusians and his critics
Malthus’s theory is still relevant today
Important to be aware of social and economic outcomes from these ideal
Can be seen as overly pessimistic
Some people think that population isn’t the problem but an unjust system of distribution
Every time population grows exponentially there is a new wave of Malthusism
