Hunger
Subtitle: the biology and politics of starvation
By: John R. Butterly, Jack Shepherd
Contributors: Shepherd, Jack, 1937-
Publisher: Dartmouth College Press; University Press of New England; Published by University Press of New England
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Hanover, N.H
Language: eng
Number of pages: 337
ISBN-13: 9781584659266
Description: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, recognizes the individual's right "to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care." More than sixty years later, despite the rapid advancement of science and technology and the proliferation of humanitarian efforts, inadequate nutrition remains a major health and social problem worldwide. Food insecurity, chronic malnutrition, persistent hunger, even starvation, still afflicts more than one in seven of the world's people. As the authors show, hunger is not the result of inadequate resources and technologies; rather, its cause is a lack of political will to ensure that all people have access to the food to which they are entitled, food distributed safely, fairly, and equitably. Using a cross disciplinary approach rooted in both medicine and social science to address this crucial issue, the authors provide in-depth coverage of the biology of human nutrition; malnutrition and associated health related factors; political theories of inadequate nutrition and famine; historical-political behaviors that have led to famine in the past; and the current political behaviors that cause hunger and malnutrition to remain a major health problem today. -- From book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The silent emergency; title: The framework of understanding; title: The basics of nutrition; title: The anatomy and physiology of nutrition; title: Agriculture : the birth of civilization ... and famine; title: Responses on the ground; title: Responses : government and international; title: Responses to malnutrition; title: Why do some people starve?; title: Why do some people die?; title: The biological basis for political behavior; title: The right to food; title: Best practices; title: Prescription for change.