AREC365 Exam 1 Review 

Caused by a permanent inadequacy of food.

Week 1: Famine and Ideology

Undernutrition­​caused by a permanent inadequacy of food

Famine­​a temporary, severe food shortage such as the Irish Potato famine or the current state of North Korea

Causes:

● Natural disasters

● Policy mistakes (use of food as weapon)

○ Irish Potato Famine: government restricted imports but exports did not stop ○ Solution: tax on landowners → tenants could not pay tax, were evicted, which continued the entire cycle

Socialism​: collectivization caused famine

● Stalin: expanded industry so the government adopted all decisions about it ● Farmers had to turn in land, tools, animals, etc.

When infants, pregnant/lactating women, elderly women are most vulnerable?

○ Responses: resistance, refusal, government took crops so people did not have enough food

● Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine: cooperative farms caused an initial surplus; citizens were then paid on need, not efforts, so people stopped working hard ○ Less total output and productivity

● North Korea: communal farms → pre­harvested personal farms in order to “beat the system”, citizens ration’s were cut, food as a weapon in form of aid from other countries ● South Africa: caused by extreme weather, consistent famine, and government “redistribution” of land

○ Food aid from World Food Programme → less self­sufficiency, dependent on aid Preventing Famine:

● Democratic government → not socialism

What is the difference between nature and nurture?

Don't forget about the age old question of This was the last major victory for indians.

● Take action before famine gets worse

● Increase distribution and spread of food aid

Food as a weapon​­ used in order to further a political agenda or force a country to do something by holding food aid over their head

● Civil war POW camps, Darfur: goal was to weaken opponents of governing body ● Nazi Hunger Plan: kill­non German farmers and replace with German farmers; make food to feed German troops We also discuss several other topics like How to define the natural interest?

● North Korea/US: refusal for food aid if country creates nuclear weapons

Defining Malnutrition

Malnutrition­ over or underconsumption of any nutrient

1. Overnutrition: consuming too many calories (ex. obesity), not just high­income countries 2. Secondary malnutrition: person eats enough food but it is digested improperly so there is a lack of nutrient absorption (ex. eating disorders, parasites)

3. Micronutrient deficiency: lack of a vitamin or mineral (iron, vitamin A, zinc) a. Fortification used to add nutrients to common foods, such as vitamin A into milk b. Can cause xerophthalmia, GI disease, goiter, ricketsDon't forget about the age old question of Types of food with vitamin b3?

4. Protein­calorie malnutrition: not obtaining enough protein of calories; enough protein does not mean enough calories BUT enough calories usually means enough protein a. Kwashiorkor: extreme protein deficiency

b. Marasmus: extreme caloric deficiency

Where they come from

Uses

Carbohydrates

Photosynthesis combines light + CO2 into usable

energy like carbs and fats

­ Breathing, digestion, other involuntary actions

­ Physical/mental activity ­ Growth, fighting disease ­ 1st and immediate energy source

Proteins

Nitrogen fixation leads to NH3, which, when combined with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, make amino acids

­ Build muscle and cartilage ­ Carry oxygen throughout body

­Enzymes: catalyze reactions

RDA​: recommended daily allowance; amount of nutrients at which ~97­98% of population is nourished

EAR​: estimated average requirement (of protein and

calories per day) Don't forget about the age old question of What are the syndromes related to sex chromosome abnormalities?
If you want to learn more check out What are the risks associated with making diagnoses?

● Depends on age, gender, energy usage

● More accurate and helpful

BMR​: basal metabolic rate; calories needed if a Don't forget about the age old question of What is environmental sex determination system?

person were to just sit in bed all day

Daily caloric needs:​Physical activity level (PAC) x

BMR

● PAC​ranges from 1.00 (sedentary) to 1.45

(very active)

Ways of gauging consumption:

● Interviews: make a quick list (everything they ate in last 24 hours), name forgotten foods (soda, snacks), remember occasion (when/where they ate it), detail cycle (was there milk? or sugar in your tea?), and final probe (fact check)

○ Issues: subject lies or forgets, modifies diet for the day, is time­consuming and ineffective

● Anthropometry: compare subject to a reference of the same age/background; if the gap is too big, it signals malnourishment

○ 1. Weight­for­age: weight = good nutrition usually

○ 2. Height­for­age: compare with data/skeletons, undernutrition during growing years stunts height

○ 3. Height­for­weight: upper­arm circumference measured; undernourished people lack fat in their arms

■ Undernourished = too far below normal

● Normal: average height/weight of a reference person, or median

(50th percentile), or a “healthy range”

■ 76­90% of median: mild malnourishment

■ 61­75% of median: moderate

■ 60% or below: severe; BMI below 18.5

Measuring undernutrition:

● Clinical assessment (physical)

● Biochemical assessment (bloodwork, etc)

● Dietary record (write down what they eat as the day goes on)

● Dietary recall (write what they remember from past 24 hrs)

● Anthropometry

○ Measure population’s protein and calorie nutrition, determine overnutrition ● Nature vs. nurture: nature determines max potential height, nurture determines the degree of height they grow to

● WHO z­scores (used standard deviations)

● Mid­upper arm circumference

Impacts of Undernutrition: 

● Increased risk of mortality: lack of nutrients and low weight increases susceptibility to disease

○ Especially children: most likely group to die after the elderly

● Decreased ability to fight infection

● Weak immune system

● More complications from disease

● Low body fat composition, smaller

○ Less effective workers

● Fasting x > 16 hrs impairs memory and focus; seen with lower test scores ● Can reduce fertility

● Mothers can be malnourished, which means babies may be; breast milk is best source of nutrients for them

● Lower IQ

○ Especially due to iron and iodine deficiencies

Low­birth weight babies:

● Smaller brains, more often sick, lower IQs due to lack of nutrients, less stimulation → less cognitive functioning

● Heavier, taller people are less likely to be unemployed → vicious cycle of poverty

The Numbers:

● 805,000,000 undernourished people in world → 11.3% of population ○ Has decreased in past 20 years, mostly in East Asia

● Calories/person/day has increased by 10% in the last 20 years

● Adequate calories in the world, but they are not distributed

Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan):

● Wasting: low weight­for­height

● Stunted: low height­for­age

● Low birthweight babies → indication of mother’s nutritional status; high child mortality rates

Who, Where, When? 

● People are at risk for periods of a year, not the entire year (growing vs hunger season) ● Food crisis of 2007­08: prices shot up by 60% in 07­08 then fell almost as quickly ● Calorie deficiency does NOT always mean undernutrition

● Typical in rural areas: low income, less availability, higher prices, food deserts ● Infants, pregnant/lactating women, elderly women are most vulnerable

Supply and Demand 

● Aggregate demand­​total demand requested. Ex: Billy

wants 3 boats, Jim wants 10, and so on...aggregate demand is

130 boats.

● Aggregate supply­​total supply

● How demand shifts:

○ RIGHT if higher population, higher average

income, redistribution of money, changes in tastes/preferences

● Supply shifts:

○ RIGHT if new technology, cheaper price of inputs,

or improvement in agricultural resources

○ LEFT if technology fails, input is more expensive, or environmental degradation

Other economics info:

● Engel’s law​: as income increases, proportion of income spent on food decreases ● Bennett’s law​: starchy staple ratio (ratio of starchy foods to other foods) decreases as income increases

● Inferior goods​­ people consume less of them as their incomes rise

○ ex. Maize

● Elastic­​when the family increases consumption by more than 1% due to increased income

● Inelastic­​when family’s increase is less than 1%

● Price elasticity of demand­​steepness of the demand curve; effect of price increase on quality demanded

● Price elasticity of supply­​steepness of the supply curve; how quantity supplied changes in response to change in price

● Own­price elasticity​: change in consumption of a food as a result of 1% change of price ● Cross­price elasticity:​change in consumption of something else as a result of change in a main item; are usually very small

● Supply elasticity​­ percent change in quantity of output in response to a 1% change in the price of output

○ Agricultural supply elasticities greater in developed world than developing world → farmers in developing countries are more sensitive to change

● Food security​: access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life ● Food insecurity:​if income is less than the cost of buying food to make up for food production deficit

● Shortages­​how can they occur if quantity supplied equals quantity demanded? ○ ex. Chipotle carnitas: board says carnitas bowl is $7.25, but there is a shortage → 100 people walk in/day and ask for carnitas but there is none

○ Economists would say this is a shortage and to raise the price to cut demand/increase supply until equilibrium is restored

○ However: at any price, supply is still 0 for a period of time → demand curve hits vertical access, no one willing to pay for it (ex. $100 for a burrito)

● Sample problem: average income/person is $2,000. Prevailing unit is $1/unit. Quantity: 800 units/person. Income elasticity of demand for food is 0.2 (as income increases by 1%, demand increases by .2%). Own­price elasticity of demand for food is ­0.12 (as price of food increases by 1%, demand for food decreases by .12%). Own­price elasticity of supply for food is .08 (as price increases, quantity supplied increases by .08%). (ON QUIZ)

● Income rises by 5% and was previously $2000. New income =?

○ New income is $2100.

● Income elasticity of demand for food is 0.2 ­­­> for 1% increase in income, quantity of food demanded increases by .2%.

○ A 5% increase = 5 x .2 = 1.0

● Own price elasticity of supply ­ 0.08 so: 800 x 0.08 + 800 = 807.03 units ○ DOES NOT put in equilibrium (not $1.01)