Back to Search
Start Over
Experience-based measures of food and water security: biocultural approaches to grounded measures of insecurity
- Source :
- Human Organization. Winter, 2009, Vol. 68 Issue 4, p451, 10 p.
- Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Insecure access to food and water are experienced by millions of people around the world. Not only does insecure access to food and water represent a violation of basic human fights, it is a major threat to the physical and mental health of individuals and communities. There is, therefore, great need for tools to identify those who are food and water insecure and the severity of their insecurity. We argue here that measures of food and water insecurity must not only reflect biological requirements but also the biocultural nature of food and water needs. In this paper, we present case studies from Tanzania and Bolivia that detail the steps used to adapt or create experience-based measures and validate these measures using a suite of established approaches. We also show that, by broadening our understanding of insecurity to include respondents' experiences, the full range of health impacts--including psychosocial stress and mental health--become apparent. We conclude by noting limitations of the biocultural approach and offer suggestions for future research. Key words: Bolivia, Tanzania, measurement, poverty, nutrition, health, scarcity, public health
- Subjects :
- Food supply -- Measurement
Water-supply -- Bolivia
Water-supply -- Tanzania
Water-supply -- Measurement
Stress (Psychology) -- Economic aspects
Poverty -- Bolivia
Poverty -- Tanzania
Poverty -- Psychological aspects
Poverty -- Health aspects
Anthropology/archeology/folklore
Social sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00187259
- Volume :
- 68
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Gale General OneFile
- Journal :
- Human Organization
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsgcl.215514284