| Abstract: |
A longitudinal study of shifting patterns of food consumption from a rural Hausa village in northern Nigeria. It is suggested that widening economy base over the last 12 years is a main cause for introduction of new foods and more consistent diet throughout the year. pg 143 Diets are both culturally constructed and socially transacted, all the while mediated by economic constraints, political expediencies, demographics, and the availability of particular food items. pg 158 Because food mediates the relationship between household economics and individual health, patterns of food distribution and consumption have come to be regarded as a primary index of well-being for rural households One outcome of our earlier investigation of Hausa diet and health was the development of a model of disease risk and adaptation. Central to that model were seasonal fluctuation in diet that appeared to contribute to diminished risk of malaria infection. Specifically from the middle to the end of the rainy season, people consumed less grain. pg 159 Both vitamin E and iron deficiency protect against severe malaria infection. Alternative local plant resources through the dry season also contained anti-malarial agents. With the delocalization process dietary changes are witnessed but the number of malarial infection has not increased which does the support Etkin and Ross (1983) hypothesis of use of food to combat malaria but as lower parasitism than absolute absence of infection.
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