Altink Henrice
University of York, York, UK.
Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2020 Jul 30;7:50. doi: 10.1057/s41599-020-00536-5.
On the eve of independence in 1962, malnutrition was the largest single cause of death in Jamaica for children under one. Although child malnutrition rates have rapidly declined since 1962, today Jamaica experiences a double burden of malnutrition: the coexistence of pockets of high child malnutrition with rising levels of childhood obesity. Based on a wide range of sources, including public documents, newspaper reports, scientific studies and reports by international agencies, this article examines a gradual decline in child malnutrition and the rise of the double burden of malnutrition in Jamaica from independence to the present. It will first of all show that changes in the global economy and overseas loans and aid both aided and limited the ability of the Jamaican government to lower child malnutrition levels and also contributed to a rise in childhood obesity. Second, it will illustrate that a traditional deficit-led approach to child malnutrition was followed in post-independent Jamaica, focussing on the public and individuals as targets for intervention and using quantitative measures to trace progress. And third, it will question whether the double burden of child malnutrition will give rise to 'healthy publics'-'dynamic collectives of people, ideas and environments that can enable health and well-being'.
1962年独立前夕，营养不良是牙买加一岁以下儿童死亡的最大单一原因。尽管自1962年以来儿童营养不良率迅速下降，但如今牙买加面临着营养不良的双重负担：儿童营养不良高发地区与儿童肥胖率上升并存。本文基于包括公共文件、报纸报道、科学研究和国际机构报告在内的广泛资料来源，考察了牙买加从独立至今儿童营养不良情况的逐渐下降以及营养不良双重负担的出现。首先，它将表明全球经济的变化以及海外贷款和援助既有助于也限制了牙买加政府降低儿童营养不良水平的能力，同时也导致了儿童肥胖率的上升。其次，它将说明独立后的牙买加遵循了传统的以解决营养不良问题为导向的方法，将公众和个人作为干预目标，并使用定量措施来追踪进展。第三，它将质疑儿童营养不良的双重负担是否会催生“健康的公众”——“能够促进健康和福祉的由人、思想和环境构成的充满活力的群体”。
