How do Men and Women Cope with Energetic Constraints in their Environments? Discuss with Reference to Specific Examples and Discuss both Biological and Social Responses.

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How do Men and Women Cope with Energetic Constraints in their Environments? Discuss with Reference to Specific Examples and Discuss both Biological and Social Responses.

Siobhan Enisto Hatfield College

          Energetic requirements are present in all humans at all times in the form of physical activity levels and basal metabolic rate. Energy constraints can come in the form of a heavy workload, insufficient dietary intake and in women the constraints imposed by pregnancy and lactation. In affluent societies these are relatively easy to accommodate as most people can afford to eat a sufficient amount of food and maintain energy balance. However, in some societies a great deal of energy expenditure is required in order to produce food that may not be sufficient to balance energy requirements, as well as having to combat seasonal shortages, therefore coping strategies that involve biological and social adaptations are needed to ensure survival. In some areas of the world this makes life a constant up-hill struggle where different energy constraints can have profound effects on morbidity, mortality, fecundity, fertility, body weight, physical work productivity and well-being.

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          Coping strategies resulting from energy constraints can be viewed as many small alterations in biology and social activity that when accumulated work together to allow people to operate at a more efficient level and utilise the energy that is available effectively. However, many societies do not have energy conservation and acquisition as their first priority as the western scientists who study them do (De Garine & Koppert, 1990: 260). The type of energetic stress encountered determines the type of biological alterations used, acute energy deficiency and chronic energy deficiency (Panter-Brick, lecture notes). There are ...

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