The risk of famine is rising in many countries today. Bold changes to famine information and response systems are urgently needed to improve capacities to prevent famine. To this end, the paper identifies six insights from social-ecological systems (SES) thinking for understanding and preventing famine. It argues that a state of famine emerges from human-environment interdependencies, complex causality, and non-linear system dynamics, shaped by history and context. The likelihood of famine can be reduced by strengthening resilience to the diverse stresses and shocks that drive destitution, food insecurity, undernutrition, morbidity, and mortality. SES thinking offers new opportunities to understand the dynamics of famine, diagnose lesser-known drivers, pinpoint new metrics, ascertain leverage points for intervention, and develop conceptual frameworks to inform policy. SES concepts and methods could also support the development of practical analytical tools to guide decisionmakers on how, where, and when to intervene most effectively and efficiently to strengthen resilience to the drivers of famine.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/disa.12621 | DOI Listing |
Vitam Horm
January 2025
Lilly Diabetes Research Center, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, Indianapolis, IN, United States; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States. Electronic address:
The hypothalamus plays a central role in regulating energy expenditure and maintaining energy homeostasis, crucial for an organism's survival. Located in the ventral diencephalon, it is a dynamic and adaptable brain region capable of rapid responses to environmental changes, exhibiting high anatomical and cellular plasticity and integrates a myriad of sensory information, internal physiological cues, and humoral factors to accurately interpret the nutritional state and adjust food intake, thermogenesis, and energy homeostasis. Key hypothalamic nuclei contain distinct neuron populations that respond to hormonal, nutrient, and neural inputs and communicate extensively with peripheral organs like the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, and adipose tissues to regulate energy production, storage, mobilization, and utilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Public Health
January 2025
School of Physical Education, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China.
Background: Over the past few decades, China has experienced significant demographic and epidemiological changes. The sharp decline in fertility and mortality rates has accelerated population aging, contributing to an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases. The nutritional condition during early life is associated with the onset of chronic illnesses later in adulthood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2025
Public Health Research Center, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Binhu District, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu Province, China.
Objectives: Previous studies had reported the association between famine exposure in early life and subsequent non-communicable diseases risk. In current study, we aimed to evaluate the associations between famine exposure on multimorbidity prevalence and incidence in middle-aged and older Chinese population.
Methods: A total of 13,254 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2011 were included in cross-sectional analyses.
BMC Public Health
January 2025
School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China.
Background: People who have experienced the Chinese Great Famine (1959-1961) in their fetal period are getting old. It is particularly important for China's response to the ageing of this cohort to study the impact of the Holodomor on disability.
Method: This paper presents an empirical analysis that utilizes the survey data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), employing a cohort Difference-in-Differences (DID) modeling approach.
Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol
January 2025
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Pleasanton, California, USA.
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