ANTH 201 Full Course Notes

11/28/2022




CHAPTER 14

BIOLOGY OF
CONTEMPORARY AND PAST
POPULATIONS




INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND HUMAN
HISTORY withincreaseddensityandmovementinfectiousdiseases
1. Infectious disease associated became alargerproblemBlackdeath medical
with the Neolithic Revolution

2. shift from infectious to chronic didnothelpuntilaroundthelate19th
advancements
diseases associated with
industrialization
century to early2000s
3. the age of emerging and re‐
emerging infectious diseases ‐
now




EMERGING AND RE‐EMERGING INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
 Contributing factors:
 Poverty
 Poor sanitation
 Mutations in pathogens
 Antibiotic‐resistant bacterial
strains
 Climate change (malaria)
 Globalization and air travel
(COVID?!)
 Large scale food production
(BSE)
 Zoonotic transmission
(AIDS/Ebola)
 Anti‐vaccination rhetoric
 Low microbiome diversity (?)




Copyright © 2015 by Nelson Education Ltd. 1

, 11/28/2022




NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
UNDERNUTRITION

 Two billion people have nutritional deficiencies
 Reliance on cereals makes many prone to protein,
iron, vitamin B deficiencies
 Vitamin C deficiency leads to scurvy
 Vitamin A deficiency leads to blindness, weakened
immune system
 Vitamin D deficiency leads to skeletal problems, bone
loss
 Food processing destroys nutrients
 Fortified foods – vitamins and minerals added




POOR NUTRITION RESULTS IN


low birth weight
infant mortality
cognitive impairment
growth stunting
skeletal abnormalities
reduced adult stature
susceptibility to infectious diseases




SPEAKING OF DISEASES…..
NUTRITIONAL ANTHROPOLOGY: UNDER‐ AND
“OVER” NUTRITION
 A growing paradox…. The effects of “over‐nutrition”
becoming more widespread in poorer countries
typically associated with “undernutrition”




13‐6




Copyright © 2015 by Nelson Education Ltd. 2