ABSTRACT
The global obesity epidemic has been officially recognized by the World Health Organization since as early as 1997. The strong association between obesity and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, hospitalization, admittance to intensive care units, and death may represent an important turning point for obesity prevention efforts. This chapter sets out to describe how to define excess body fat;summarize trends and current status of adult and childhood obesity, focusing on the United States;summarize trends and current status of global obesity, focusing on low-and middle-income countries;and explore how social determinants shape the prevalence of obesity. In addressing the social determinants of obesity, it is recognized that individual choices are influenced by social, economic, political, environmental, and cultural factors. Specific dimensions covered in this chapter include gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, urbanization, and culture. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted agriculture in India in many ways, yet no nationally representative survey has been conducted to quantify these impacts. The three objectives of this study were to evaluate how the pandemic has influenced: (1) cropping patterns and input use, (2) farmers' willingness to adopt sustainable agricultural practices, and (3) farmers' COVID-19 symptoms. Phone surveys were conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 with farmers who had previously participated in a nationally representative survey. Values are reported as weighted percent (95% confidence interval). A total of 3,637 farmers completed the survey;59% (56-61%) were small/marginal farmers;72% (69-74%) were male;and 52% (49-55%) had a below poverty line ration card. A majority of farmers (84% [82-86%]) reported cultivating the same crops in 2019 and 2020. Farmers who reported a change in their cropping patterns were more likely to be cultivating vegetables (p = 0.001) and soybean (p<0.001) and less likely to be cultivating rice (p<0.001). Concerning inputs, 66% (63-68%) of farmers reported no change in fertilizers;66% (64-69%) reported no change in pesticides;and 59% (56-62%) reported no change in labor. More than half of farmers (62% [59-65%]) were interested in trying sustainable farming, primarily because of government schemes or because their peers were practicing it. About one-fifth (18% [15-21%]) of farmers reported COVID-19 symptoms in the past month (cough, fever, or shortness of breath) and among those with symptoms, 37% (28-47%) reported it affected their ability to work. In conclusion, COVID-19 infections had started to impact farmers' productivity even during the first wave in India. Most farmers continued to grow the same crops with no change in input use. However, many expressed an interest in learning more about practicing sustainable farming. Findings will inform future directions for resilient agri-food systems.
ABSTRACT
The impact of the pandemic on the farmers with different farm sizes is analysed. The changes in the income of farmers are highlighted, and the mitigation of the financial downturn by farmers using government cash transfers and sale of assets is explored. The change in the uptake of loans during the pandemic is investigated. © 2021 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Crop diversity is thought to have small, positive impacts on dietary diversity among farming households, particularly when market access is restricted. Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted market access. To date, no study has explored the relationship between crop and dietary diversity in this context. To address this gap, we used longitudinal data collected from 833 farmers across 12 states in India at three time points between May and August 2020. Dietary diversity was measured using a modified version of the FAO Minimum Dietary Diversity score for women, which has been used in representative samples of the Indian population in both men and women. Eight food groups were included: (1) starchy staples (rice, wheat, and potatoes), (2) pulses, (3) nuts, (4) vegetables, (5) fruits, (6) dairy, (7) eggs, and (8) fleshy foods (meat, poultry, and fish). Multivariate polynomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between crop and dietary diversity. Models were adjusted for educational attainment, caste, farm size, having a kitchen garden, and livestock ownership. Participants were, on average, 42.2 years old and 94.2% were male. Dietary diversity decreased over the study period, especially between baseline and follow-up 1, when lockdown measures were the most restrictive (34.2% of participants experienced a decline compared to 16.1% from follow-up 1 to follow-up 2). Compared to farmers who cultivated 1 crop (monocroppers), farmers who cultivated 2 crops or 3 or more crops were significantly less likely to experience a decline in dietary diversity from baseline to follow-up 1: adjusted relative risk (RR) (95% confidence interval [CI]), 0.52 (0.35, 0.78) and 0.48 (0.31, 0.75), respectively. There was no significant association between crop diversity and change in dietary diversity from follow-up 1 to follow-up 2, when phased re-opening had begun. These findings suggest that farmers with greater crop diversity in India were more resilient to market disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, while the links between crop and dietary diversity may be small under normal circumstances, diversifying production systems may play an increasingly important role, as there is greater uncertainty due to global events such as pandemics and climate change. © Copyright © 2021 Connors, Jaacks, Prabhakaran, Veluguri, Ramanjaneyulu and Roy.