The Geography of Food and Health Flashcards
What is chronic hunger?
Long-term hunger caused by a lack of food over a long timescale
What is periodic hunger?
Temporary hunger caused by a short-term decline in food intake
What is malnutrition?
Having a diet lacking proper nutrition from not having enough to eat or not having enough good-quality food
What is epidemiology?
The study of diseases
What is an endemic?
(Of a disease) prevalent in an area
What is an epidemic?
A fast-spreading outbreak of a disease
What is a pandemic?
A global epidemic
What is HALE?
Health adjusted life expectancy (accounts for years lived in ill-health) that’s age / sex specific
Burden of ill health bigger for: women, early old age, lower socio-economic status
Biggest burden from pain and sensory problems
Calculated for countries by WHO using death registration data
What is food security?
For a population: all people at all times have access to meet needs / preferences for a healthy life
For a household: all members at all times have access to live a healthy life
Includes:
Ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food
Assured ability to get foods in socially-acceptable ways
What components of food security comprise the Global Food Security Index?
Affordability: agriculture import tariffs, farm financing, food consumption in household expenditure
Availability: political stability risk, sufficiency of supply, agricultural infrastructure
Quality and safety: diet diversification, protein quality
What is the Global Hunger Index?
0 - no hunger
100 - worst hunger
Components
Undernourishment: percent of population that’s undernourished
Child wasting: percent of children < 5 who are wasting (low weight for height or age, acute under)
Child stunting: percent of children < 5 who are stunting (low height for age, chronic under)
Child mortality: mortality rate of children < 5
What is calorie intake?
Amount of food a person consumes each day, varies by many factors
High-income country average > low-income country average
What are indicators of malnutrition?
Deficiency diseases from lack of specific vitamins or minerals
Kwashiorkor is lack of protein
Marasmus is lack of calories
Obesity from too much food
Starvation is limited or no food
Temporary hunger from short-term availability decline in population
Famine is long-term decline in availability
What is the relationship between food intake and income?
Low-income: more carbohydrates, consistently growing food consumption per capita, diversifying diets
High-income: carbohydrates and fats, more meat and dairy, less staple foods
Generally more food and protein with more income
What is the child mortality rate?
Probability child will die before 5 per 1000 births
(# deaths < 5 / # children < 5) * 1000
What is the infant mortality rate?
Number of deaths in children under 1 per 1000 live births
(# deaths < 1 / # live births < 1) * 1000
What is the maternal mortality rate?
Annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management
Describe access to sanitation
68% of world has access to an improved sanitation facility
Higher in urban areas than rural ones
Describe access to health services
Number of people per doctor or hospital (does not account for facility quality)
What is the epidemiological transition?
Epidemics: infectious or communicable diseases
Degenerative: non-communicable diseases that gradually worsen health
As countries develop they shift from more epidemics to more degenerative
How does aging effect the global disease burden?
23% of global disease burden is diseases in 60+ (higher for high-income countries)
High income: increased life expectancy, decreased fertility, population aging
Similar for middle-income
Heart disease more common after transition
What is arable farming?
Cultivation of crops
What is pastoral farming?
Rearing animals
What is commercial farming?
Products sold to make a profit
What is subsistence farming?
Products consumed by the cultivators
What is intensive farming?
High inputs or yields per unit area
What is extensive farming?
Low inputs or fields per unit area
What is nomadic farming?
Farmers moving seasonally with their herds
What is sedentary farming?
Farmers remaining in the same place all year
What are some physical and human factors effecting farming?
Physical:
Climate (precipitation, temp)
Soil (fertility, depth)
Pests
Slope
Human:
Political (land ownership, organization)
Economic (farm size, technology)
Social (culture, education)