A Review of Nutritional Anthropology

Xiao+Kunbin

Abstract：Nutritional Anthropology is an interdisciplinary field resulting from the combination of nutritional science and anthropology and is one which aims to explore the relationship between culture， nutrition and health. Anthropology itself is a cross discipline which links the two areas of nature and humanities. So， using an anthropological approach for a nutritional intake study can also be taken from both natural and cultural perspectives.

Nutrition is a biochemical concept， whereas the source of nutritionfoodis a cultural concept. Correspondingly， hunger is also a biological concept based on physiological reactions， whereas “appetite means a cultural choice when confronted with hunger. The choice of food in every society has its own cultural rationale. Food which can provide nutriment but does not necessarily conform to the cultural choices of people in the society， may thus be a “nutrition” that is rejected by the people in this society. To classify food as “edible” and “not edible”， to interpret cooking ways， taste preferences and social identity within social and cultural background forms the content of the Anthropology of Food which belongs to social and cultural anthropology. On the other hand， once the food is consumed， it becomes part of nutrition. This is the process by which the body is able to to function， and maintains its health and growth by constant ingesting chemical substances obtained from the outside. The process and various changes can be explained using the theoretical framework of physical anthropology.（Xi，Wang and Guan，2004） So， Nutritional Anthropology can be categorized as “Nutritional Anthropology→Medical Anthropology→Physical Anthropology→Anthropology” within the chain of the general anthropological discipline.

From the perspective of Nutritional Anthropology， people， environment and society are combined into a cultural system of reciprocal causation and mutual penetration， and issues related to health and nutrition are far from simple biomedical problems. Correspondingly， the purpose of Nutrition Anthropology research is to reveal the deep social and cultural reasons which are hidden beneath the presentative nutritional status， so that the condition of humans health can be indirectly affected by means of adjusting political governance， economic operational model and ecological environment etc. Furthermore， amplifying this corresponding relationship into a much larger integrated system， Nutritional Anthropology also discusses issues like how the natural environment， the food trade system， nutritional status， and culture interact with each other. Main areas of concern include： the impact of the global circulation of food on human nutritional status； science and technology， GMF and food safety issues； how society can make the nutritional value of a certain food； green revolution； food production and land deterioration； Land expropriation； Labor migration and nutritional problems； the impact of largescale monocropping； malnutrition caused by “delocalization” and the “commodification” of traditional food； religious， food taboos， nutritional inhibiting and malnutrition problems； physical aesthetic and health problems in social cognition； concepts of dietary therapy /tonic supplement and health problems， etc. Meanwhile， the comparative analysis of different peoples understanding of “nutrition” is also debated in Nutritional Anthropology， for example， the criteria for evaluating fatness， slimness and malnutrition can vary extensively based upon different cultural backgrounds. Peoples current nutritional status could possibly be ascribed to the adaptation of their surrounding environment， or as a result of historical or genetic product.

From the perspective of anthropology， the study of “food” and “nutrition” mainly includes the following aspects： the relationship among food， nutrition and balanced diet； the classification of nutrition； the classification of food； food， nutrition and global economic development.

The study of food has not been given much attention by anthropologists for a long time. This is mainly due to the defaulted role of “academic anthropology” which limited the theoretical development of anthropology in this field. Early anthropologists regarded human diet as a “food habits”， and， rather than asking any theoretical questions， they even criticized putting “food habits” into formal anthropological research. This concept hindered anthropologists from including nutrition and food resource related research on vital policy and social issues. Factors that contribute to the dilemma of this anthropological theoretical development are mainly rooted in the mainstream （academic） anthropologys neglect of policyoriented research and practical concerns. It is also an effect of a longstanding binary classification that exists in anthropology， such as theory/academic/pure vs. applied/practice.（Ma，2014）

Key concepts of Nutritional Anthropology include Malnutrition， Undernutrition， Overnutrition， Healthy Diet， Balanced Nutrition， Food Safety， and Genetically Modified （GM） technology. Nutritional Anthropologys main research areas include food ways and nutrition， culture and malnutrition， diet and disease， genetically modified technology and food safety.

The research methods used for Nutritional Anthropology provide a new comprehensive analytical framework. Nowadays， regional food supply and consumption are becoming increasingly close to each other， thus， the nutritional problems of each country， each cultural region， and even each family are no longer isolated events. On the contrary，they should be discussed in a holistic and global food distribution network. In such cases， nutritional issues are no longer scientific problems that can be simply solved by Nutriology or Biology.Moreover， such issues call for the cooperation of adjustment of political governance， economic models and ecological environment， as well as the effective guidance to local dietetic traditions. In addition， because nutrition means much to the functioning， behavior and biological characteristics of human beings， it is beneficial to improve human adaptation in the future by reducing nutritional stress or improving the buffering capacity of nutrition to other stress sources according to nutritional anthropological research.

Key Words：food； nutrition； nutritional anthropology

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