Diseases of Civilization/ Breastfeeding (Lec 10)

Lecture 10

The “Original Affluent Society”

Diversified + Foraging

Diversified

dies based on wild, undomesticated resources

Foraging

as a life style with time for leisure than framing as a mode of production that generate more and more work

Foraging Vs. Agriculture

-If agriculture production produces more food with less “risk,” how can it possibly be bad?

Diabetes

-with 2 types of diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well

Human Growth + Development

–life history theory (LHT), -for apes in general but especially for Homo sapiens the period of infancy + juvenile development is extended. -LHT-two fundamental constraints structure the life cycle: time + energy

life history theory (LHT):

-how the staged of the life cycle are organized for different organisms + the way in which behavior corresponds to these stages, -gestation, infancy, juvenile, sexual maturity, adulthood

-for apes in general but especially for Homo sapiens the period of infancy + juvenile development is extended. Why? Examples:

-learning, -social adaptation

LHT

-two fundamental constraints structure the life cycle: time + energy

LHT-two fundamental constraints structure the life cycle: time + energy

-if T+E are spent on growth + the development of maturity, then less T+E can be spent on reproduction. It is always a trade off

Key stages in human life history

-gestation, -infancy, -childhood, -adolescence, -adulthood, -old age

gestation

prenatal, first 40 weeks

infancy

birth through weaning

childhood

year 3 through 11-12

adolescence

sexual maturity

adulthood

maturity, homeostasis

old age

senility

Lactase persistence + lactose impersistence

-mammalian patter-only infants consume milk

-for homo sapiens in Lactase persistence + lactose impersistence

lactase impersistence is the norm

-a relatively small number of humans are exceptions to this pattern

-a northern european, mostly lactose “tolerant”, -east asian + native american, mostly lactose “intolerant”

-milk and milk products are a rich source of nutrition + energy

-generally correlated with domestication of cows, sheep, reindeer, and goats, -cultural variation to “accommodate” the problem of lactose intolerance, --processed dairy products-remover the lactose, retain nutritional value

-if lactase impersistence is the biological “norm” for our species, why are the symptoms associated with this norm referred to as a medical condition called lactose “intolerance”

-in other words, why is the “norm” pathologized as abnormal? -how does the use of specific words “politicize” the reality of enzymes in our small intestines?

Infancy + Breastfeeding

-In infancy the brain grows rapidly, reaching adult size by age 5. For this to happen an infant needs a very “energy dense” source of nutrition

Breastmilk

-breastmilk provides this as well as a spectrum of “biologically active constituents” that support growth + development over an extended period, -breastmilk, which is not high in fat, is adapted to low-intensity feeding over a longer period of time, rather than periodic feeding with high intensity during a “short” period of time

-weaning-”a critical time for the health + growth of young children”

-age 6 months, -age 3 years

Breastfeeding vs Bottle feeding

-there is a wealth of evidence supporting benefits of breastfeeding rather than bottle feeding, -a short history of bottle feeding + global health, -milkshakes, bias + problems

-a short history of bottle feeding + global health

-1960s: trying to “solve” the problem of malnutrition in the global solution , -if “hunger” + food shortage is a chronic problem, then a “rational” solution

-milkshakes, bias + problems

-using “formula fed” infants from the US as a global standard for growth rates, -promoting infant formula to replace “deficient” breastmilk

Breastfeeding, health + gender

-”women in the US usually do not breastfeed to 6 months, + few practice exclusive breastfeeding even to 3 months”

how would E.M. (emily) explain “breastfeeding”

as a medicalization problem for women in general, but for women in the US in particular

Menopause

-life expectancy for most of human history has been about 40 years, it it significantly longer, and in some contexts twice as long, -in biological terms, what medical problems relate to menopause as “sympathetic” of extended aging

-one way to understand menopause is in relation to this dramatics change in human growth + a development

-the “addition” of old age as a “culturally constructed” stage that extends life beyond reproductive adulthood + child ageing

-in the cultural terms, what does E.M. (martin) sat about the “gendered” experiences of ageing

in terms of the metaphors used to describe menopause