Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Part V Food and Drink around the World
- Part VI History, Nutrition, and Health
- VI.1 Nutrition and the Decline of Mortality
- VI.2 Nutrition and Mortality Decline: Another View
- VI.3 Infection and Nutrition: Synergistic Interactions
- VI.4 Famine
- VI.5 Height and Nutrition
- VI.6 The Nutrition of Women in the Developing World
- VI.7 Infant and Child Nutrition
- VI.8 Adolescent Nutrition and Fertility
- VI.9 Nutrition and Mental Development
- VI.10 Human Nutritional Adaptation: Biological and Cultural Aspects
- VI.11 The Psychology of Food and Food Choice
- VI.12 Food Fads
- VI.13 Food Prejudices and Taboos
- VI.14 The Social and Cultural Uses of Food
- VI.15 Food as Aphrodisiacs and Anaphrodisiacs?
- VI.16 Food as Medicine
- VI.17 Vegetarianism
- VI.18 Vegetarianism: Another View
- Part VII Contemporary Food-Related Policy Issues
- Part VIII A Dictionary of the World’s Plant Foods
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
VI.1 - Nutrition and the Decline of Mortality
from Part VI - History, Nutrition, and Health
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Part V Food and Drink around the World
- Part VI History, Nutrition, and Health
- VI.1 Nutrition and the Decline of Mortality
- VI.2 Nutrition and Mortality Decline: Another View
- VI.3 Infection and Nutrition: Synergistic Interactions
- VI.4 Famine
- VI.5 Height and Nutrition
- VI.6 The Nutrition of Women in the Developing World
- VI.7 Infant and Child Nutrition
- VI.8 Adolescent Nutrition and Fertility
- VI.9 Nutrition and Mental Development
- VI.10 Human Nutritional Adaptation: Biological and Cultural Aspects
- VI.11 The Psychology of Food and Food Choice
- VI.12 Food Fads
- VI.13 Food Prejudices and Taboos
- VI.14 The Social and Cultural Uses of Food
- VI.15 Food as Aphrodisiacs and Anaphrodisiacs?
- VI.16 Food as Medicine
- VI.17 Vegetarianism
- VI.18 Vegetarianism: Another View
- Part VII Contemporary Food-Related Policy Issues
- Part VIII A Dictionary of the World’s Plant Foods
- Name Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
Together with economic growth and technological advances, improvements in health and longevity are the typical hallmarks of a population’s transition to modern society. Among the earliest countries to undergo such experiences were England and France, where mortality rates began declining steadily during the eighteenth century. Elsewhere in western and northern Europe, health and longevity began to improve during the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, this pattern has been replicated in developing countries throughout the world.
Understanding the causes that underlie this pattern of mortality decline is important not only as a matter of historical interest but also because of the practical implications for policies that aim to improve life in developing countries, and for forecasting changes in mortality in developed countries. Accordingly, there has been much interest in identifying the causes of patterns of mortality decline and measuring their impact. By the 1960s, a consensus had emerged that the factors underlying mortality trends could be delineated within four categories, as reported in a study by the United Nations (UN) (1953): (1) public-health reforms, (2) advances in medical knowledge, (3) improved personal hygiene, and (4) rising income and standards of living. A later UN study (1973) added as an additional category “natural causes,” such as a decline in the virulence of pathogens.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Food , pp. 1381 - 1389Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000
References
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