Nutrition, Food Supplies World food supply Relative food production by regions Africa Former Soviet Union World Asia Lat Amer

Nutrition, Food Supplies Sub-Saharan Africa: food production has not kept pace with rapid population growth (reasons: Droughts, War, Poverty, govt mismanagement) In sub-Sahara, 35 out of 40 countries had decreasing food production last 20 years

Nutrition, Food Supplies bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/product/nt/product_v4.d2w/report?prmenbr=153&prrfnbr=105197&cgrfnbr=46526&rootcat =46525 In richer countries, the most common dietary problem is over-nutrition (too many calories). Average daily caloric intake in North America and Europe is 3,500 calories (2770/day needed for healthy, active life)

Meat Consumption Avg Person in:Lbs of meat/yr US247 Italy170 Japan90.5 Egypt31 India4.5

Importance of Diet At least half of all Americans are considered overweight (about 1/3 are obese). Strong correlation between cardiovascular disease and the amount of salt and animal fat in one’s diet Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, complex carbohydrates, and dietary fiber have beneficial health effects. Eating too much food has negative effects on health.

Obesity - The most common dietary problem in wealthy countries is over-nutrition.

USDA Food Pyramid Eating a Balanced Diet

The Challenge of Choosing Foods – Variety!

Nutrition, Food Supplies Asia has experienced the most rapid increase in crop production (esp. China, Indonesia tripled food production in less than decade). Ex. In Indonesia, in 4 years had worlds biggest rice reserves from being worlds biggest importer of rice Malaysia, palm oil

Food Security Food security - the ability to obtain sufficient food on a day-to-day basis About 800 million people are chronically hungry (200 million are children) – 1 in 5 in developing world. Chronic undernourishment in children leads to: permanently stunted growth, mental retardation, other social and developmental disorders. Higher incidence of infectious diseases when undernourished. Poverty is the greatest threat to food security. Within families that don’t get enough to eat, women and children have the poorest diets.

Countries at risk for food shortages – high risk in orange color, low risk in white Greatest risk: sub-Sahara Africa, Southeast & South Asia, parts of Latin America. Little risk: US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia

Essential Nutrients Malnourishment - a nutritional imbalance caused by a lack of specific dietary components or an inability to utilize essential nutrients Richer countries eat too much meat, salt, fat and not enough fiber, vitamins etc since foods are so processed The number of people with allergies has gone up and has not been helped by the chemicals (hormones) used to speed up the rate at which animals accumulate biomass (the food source).

Essential Nutrients Starchy foods like corn and polished rice tend to be low in several essential nutrients Protein deficiency diseases - kwashiorkor, marasmus Iron deficiency - anemia - most severe in India Iodine deficiency - goiter, hyperthyroidism WHY DO DEFICIENCIES EXIST?

kwashiorkormarasmus goiter

Environmental conditions - drought, insects, natural disasters National politics - corruption, oppression Armed conflict Economics - price gouging, poverty, landlessness Famines: Some Causes

The aid policies of rich countries often serve to: get rid of surplus food without dealing with root causes of starvation; set up feeding camps – not deal with growing own crops, etc. Dealing with Underlying Causes of Famine? Famine causes people to use up their productive capacity (killing their animals, eating stored grains), mass migrations

To help feed the entire world? New foods? Eg, –insects (microlivestock), 58-75% protein by weight, 3-4x protein-rich as beef, fish or eggs, –Winged beans (tropical legume), many edible parts so called “supermarket on the stalk” GMO???

Transgenic Crop Field Releases

World Health Organization studies in questions on Genetically Modified Foods: Conclusion by WHO is that the environmental safety aspects of GM crops vary considerably according to local conditions 2.Preventing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life: Top 10 Risks are Tobacco, alcohol, unsafe water, sanitation & hygiene, high cholesterol, indoor smoke from solid fuels, childhood & maternal underweight, unsafe sex, high blood pressure, iron deficiency, & overweight/obesity

A poor environment will contribute to a poor diet and negatively affect nutrition (and too much can also be bad). Poor nutrition may contribute to diseases & their emergence. Also social factors (govts, war, policy, economics, etc) may affect nutrition and hence diseases. Global organizations have been developed to help solve these global problems. In summary:

CH 8 - Environmental Health & Toxicology In some parts of Eastern Europe and the former USSR, up to 90% of all children suffer from environmentally linked diseases.

What is Health? The World Health Organization defines health: state of complete physical, mental, & social well-being – not just absence of disease. Disease - a deleterious change in the body’s condition in response to an environmental factor Morbidity – illness or disease Mortality – death rate

Eg: Tuberculosis Deforestation causes insect vectors to move to cities

Problems occurring when people live in crowded conditions. New global mega cities where managing human generated wastes is poor, etc Morbidity and Quality of Life in Poor Households