Villages in Transition: Elevated Risk of Micronutrient Deficiency

Abstract

Some researchers have suggested that as villages move from traditional living patterns emphasizing self-sufficiency, to ones featuring economic development, there is a vulnerable transition period in which families of the community are at greater health risk. This elevated risk results from many factors such as employment volatility, changes in food consumption patterns, composition of the extended family, temporary migration, and child rearing behavior. Elevated risk, if present, would strike hard at children who are most vulnerable and readily reflect adverse changes in family status. In this paper, we consider these ideas in the context of data from the Eastern Islands of Indonesia.