The Health of Traditional Societies and the Effects of Acculturation [and Comments and Replies]

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Abstract
This paper argues that isolated traditional societies are well adapted to their environments and that their members are healthy and well nourished. After prolonged contact with the industrialized world, their adaptation becomes disrupted and their health jeopardized. Unacculturated traditional societies maintain good health because of their geographic isolation, small and constant group size, nomadic or seminomadic life-style, preservative attitude towards the environment, and diverse diet supplying essential nutrients and fiber. They endure endemic infections and minor nutritional deficiencies without much apparent morbidity or death. Permanent intrusions into their environments and cultures by representatives of the industrialized world are deleterious to the health of these groups because of the sudden breakdown of their geographic isolation, the growing instability of their group sizes due to migration, epidemics, reduction of the complexity and diversity of the surrounding fauna and flora, and the introduction of a store-bought diet deficient in proteins, vitamins, and fiber and rich in carbohydrates. In the absence of modern hygiene, immunization, and Western medical resources, there are likely to be epidemics of new contagious organisms and increase in the prevalence of, especially, enteric infections and malaria. Malnutrition among children will increase. Later, even with medical resources, modern Western diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes can be expected to follow.

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