Option F- Food and Health

average available calories per person

• approximately just under 2000 calories per day → lower in some areas

• easier to get data on what daily calories are available than on what people actually consume

• obesity > 30 BMI

• overweight > 25 BMI

• difference between adequate nutrition and adequate calories

Nutrition Transition Pattern 1

Hunter gatherer

• active lifestyle

• diet rich in fibrous plants, lean game protein

Nutrition Transition Pattern 2

daily agriculture

• famine common

• slows individual growth, decreases body fat

Nutrition Transition Pattern 3

end of famine

• famine recedes as income rises and nutrition improves

Nutrition Transition Pattern 4

overeating, obesity related diseases

• income rises = access to abundance of high calorie foods

• automation = less active

• increase in obesity and related diseases eg heart diseases

Nutrition Transition Pattern 5

behaviour change

• response to increasing obesity

• change in behaviour eg lower calorie foods, more exercise

  • community, individual

One detailed example of a vector-borne disease

Malaria:

• caused by phasmodium bacteria spread by anopheles mosquitos

• found in tropic/subtropic regions

• warm, humid climates = mosquito habitats

• stagnant water bodies spread it, poor sanitation

• impacts

  • causes anemia, organ failure- high mortality rate particularly in children

  • burdens healthcare system

• mitigation:

  • protection from bites

  • vaccination

  • education

One detailed example of a water-borne disease 

Cholera:

• acute diarrhoeal infection

• caused by water or food contaminated with vibrio cholerae bacteria)

• affects areas with poor sanitation, inadequate drinking water, highly populated

• impacts

  • rapid acting

  • severe dehydration, inflammation, diarrhoea

  • strains healthcare resources

• mitigation:

  • improved hygiene, sanitation

  • good quality healthcare

  • education

International diets: Mediterranean

• seasonal diet eg “horta” time of herbs

• olive oil, vineyards

• community/cultural knowledge of wild resources

• polyculture- different plants grow together to cycle soil

• happy culture, food is central to community

• balance and moderation- alcohol, roll own cigarettes

International diets: Hadza, Tanzania

• strictly only hunting and gathering

• make fire to smoke out bees and gather honey and honeycomb - rich in nutrients, high energy

• eat everything on the spot (except for the elderly and babies)

• smoke a lot of marijuana → non processed drugs

Epidemiological Transition Model

1. famine → birth and death rate oscillating, population low

2. receding pandemic → death rate drops, population begins to increase

3. Human induced disease → birth rate drops, death rate plateaus, population rapidly increases

4. era of tech, improved quality of life → death rate plateaued, birth rate declining, population plateaus

5. unknown → birth rate lower than death rate, population falls

The disease continuum

disease of poverty ← → disease of affluence

poverty

• sanitation, hygiene, water, inadequate nutrition, pests, lack of knowledge, no prevention

  • communicable

affluence

• overconsumption, lifestyle, environment, longevity (diseases of age)

  • non-communicable

Burden of disease

• mortality- deaths

• morbidity- those suffering from disease but alive

  • combined = burden of disease

• measures all those not living in good health

DALY Index

Disability Adjusted Life Years Index

• one DALY = one lost year of healthy life (through disability or premature death)

• high DALY = lots of years lost = high morbidity in the area

• accounts for years expected to live in good health

Diffusion (generally)

the spread of a phenomenon, such as an idea or technological innovation (innovative diffusion), or a disease (contagious diffusion), over space and time

expansion diffusion

spread to new places while staying strong in original location

relocation diffusion

move from one location to another via human means, unnaturally spreading idea or disease

Pandemic

sickness that kills millions globally

zoonotic virus

spread from animals to humans eg Swine Flu, SARS

Disease Case Study: H1N1 Swine Flu

• bird flu and human flu mutated in a pig in 1918

• killed 30-100 million people, airborne

• aka the Spanish Flu

Disease Case Study: SARS

• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

• started in a wet market

• spread by contagious people flying to the aero hub of Hong Kong

• Spread by air through Hong Kong apartments

HALE Index

Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth

• average number of years a person can expect to live in full health

• pattern: just over 60 years in health, 10 in disability

• trends: Healthy life expectancy increasing, years in disability staying the same

Infant Mortality

• deaths per 1000 live births

• pattern: below 30/1000 globally

• declining steadily since 1990

maternal mortality

• number of maternal deaths/number of live births x 100,000

• pattern: currently at 223/100,000

• trends: declined 34% between 2000-2020, yet rising in some areas

Access to sanitation

• facilities for clean water, safe disposal of waste

• pattern: 3.5 billion people lack sanitation

• trends: since 2000, 2.5 billion people gained access to sanitation

Ratio of doctors/people

• physicians per 1000 people

• pattern: 2020 average 3.65 doctors per 1000 across 27 countries

• trends: most OECD countries- number of doctors is increasing more rapidly than population

GFSI Index

Global Food Security Index

• measures affordability, availability, quality/safety, sustainability/adaptation

• pattern: ranked- HICs score higher, climate (change) has impact on food security

• trends: food security rose between 2012 and 2015, but has been dropping since 2015

GHI Index

Global Hunger Index

• weighting: 1/3 undernourishment, 1/6 child stunting, 1/6 child wasting, 1/3 child mortality

• pattern: 43 countries in “alarming”/”serious” categories, 58 will fail to reach “low” by 2030

• trends: 18 countries with “moderate”/”serious”, “alarming” have improved between 2015 and 2023

  • slowed by external crises

malnutrition

• weight and muscle deterioration, inadequate nutrition

• 375 million suffering worldwide

• decreasing over time slowly