Nutritional anthropologists today are challenged not simply to report on particularities of dietary habits and food production, distribution, and belief systems, but to place our interpretations of ...food behaviors, diets, and nutritional outcomes within a global context. Anthropologists are skilled in formative research, which is needed in food and nutrition studies but often goes unstudied by policy makers and program developers. When secondary data are used in nutritional anthropology’s ethnographic and formative research, the outcomes become better situated in the literature for translation into effective food and nutrition policies, interventions, and programs (Bentley, Johnson, Wasser et al. 2014). Skillful use
The nutritional anthropologist develops research problems within the context of existing food, nutrition, agricultural, ecological, socioeconomic, and health data. Whether planning a rapid assessment ...of nutritional deficiencies in a village, a study of urban food deserts in ethnic neighborhoods, or an exploration of immigrant children’s dietary patterns and food preferences, a researcher will need to inform, place, and interpret the research in the context of the social, demographic, and economic structures and patterns of the community, region, political entity, state, or globalized market. By doing so the nutritional anthropologist helps meet the needs of globalized communities, allowing others to ascertain
The nutritional anthropologist develops research problems within the context of existing food, nutrition, agricultural, ecological, socioeconomic, and health data. Whether planning a rapid assessment ...of nutritional deficiencies in a village, a study of urban food deserts in ethnic neighborhoods, or an exploration of immigrant children’s dietary patterns and food preferences, a researcher will need to inform, place, and interpret the research in the context of the social, demographic, and economic structures and patterns of the community, region, political entity, state, or globalized market. By doing so the nutritional anthropologist helps meet the needs of globalized communities, allowing others to ascertain
Nutritional anthropologists today are challenged not simply to report on particularities of dietary habits and food production, distribution, and belief systems, but to place our interpretations of ...food behaviors, diets, and nutritional outcomes within a global context. Anthropologists are skilled in formative research, which is needed in food and nutrition studies but often goes unstudied by policy makers and program developers. When secondary data are used in nutritional anthropology’s ethnographic and formative research, the outcomes become better situated in the literature for translation into eff ective food and nutrition policies, interventions, and programs (Bentley, Johnson, Wasser et al. 2014). Skillful
Inuit models of nutrition constitute an integral part of Inuit cultural identity and influence diet selection. Interviews were conducted among five elders, the adults of three extended families ...(illagiit), and two other individuals to develop a model of food ingestion and health. The focus of the model is the special relationship between seals and Inuit. The cultural model has four linked components which provide an explanation of why Inuit select the foods they do. Inuit nutritional knowledge, as expressed in the cultural model, complements current scientific nutritional knowledge and can be shown to influence individual behavior under certain circumstances. Cultural models are shown to be useful for articulating the relationship between culture and individual health behaviors, such as diet selection.
For interprofessional health care teams to become realities, students must learn new team paradigms and have greater understanding of multiple disciplines. Collaboration must start early and be ...reinforced in clinical training environments. In recent years, this interdisciplinary learning has taken place in settings away from universities as greater emphasis is placed on community-based health care training. This shift necessitates greater emphasis on preceptor development programs. To be effective, preceptor development programs must be designed on educational principles aimed at maximizing learning for adults. In this article, we discuss four educational principles: developing programs on perceived participant needs; repeating material and sequencing material logically for greater ease of learning; anchoring new material in experiential learning and past experiences; and providing a safe and supportive learning environment. Second, we present a description of how these principles were incorporated in the East Carolina University Rural Health Training Program Preceptor Development Series.
Little is known about the production of health in Inuit society. Seal meat, oil, broth, and skin are products of North Baffin Island Inuit subsistence that are used to treat and prevent sickness. By ...studying the ethnomedical practice of using seal as a medicinal, the Inuit concept of health is revealed. This concept is best viewed as a synthesis of the individual state of being combining the concepts of soul or mind and body, the social well-being of the community maintained through the hunting ritual and food sharing, and the body politic through which individuals exercise political power to provide health and well-being to others in the family and within the larger community. It contrasts with the narrow definition of health offered by western medical experts. The Inuit concept of health influences health-seeking behavior, compliance with western medical treatment plans, and classification of illness. The health status of the community would be better served by open respect and cooperation between the two health care systems.
North Baffin Inuit blend a subsistence economy with a market economy to create a mixed diet. An isolated, Inuit community consumed a diet that was approximately 65% store-bought, imported foods and ...45% locally produced, country foods in 1985. The store food is composed primarily of refined carbohydrates which are a significant source of energy; and, the country food is composed primarily of ringed seal and caribou meat, fat and viscera which are significant sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Nutritional, economic and cultural analyses of the food availability in the community indicate that Inuit should be eating more country and less store food. Store foods do not contribute any nutrients which are lacking significantly in country foods. Store foods are expensive and Inuit could not afford to consume a store food diet alone, given their current income level. Store food is also not culturally significant. Expert analyses of diet choice are useful for identifying significant variables in the diet, but cannot explain why Inuit eat the foods they do. When nutritional, economic and cultural variables are placed within the historical and socioecological context of modern Inuit hunters, significant relationships about diet selection emerge including: (1) both money and time restrict access to country food when Inuit live settled lives; (2) producing and sharing country food is the central organizing concept for Inuit society, despite cultural change; and (3) Inuit individuals will make choices that preserve hunting and kinship relationships while still allowing access to educational, employment and health benefits from the government. When goal analysis is applied to the diet problem, store food consumption is explained as a cost-effective means to meet the energy needs of the community. Store foods spare country foods to meet nutrient needs other than energy, so that Inuit can meet their social and personal goals. Nutrient needs other than energy are too costly to meet with store foods. Expert methods of diet choice improve their explanatory power when combined with cognitive methods. The analysis supports the optimality assumption of foraging theory in diet selection and the appropriateness of energy efficiency as a measure of optimal choice.
