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Course DescriptionReadingsAbout This SyllabusAssignmentsGradingSyllabusAnthropological Sciences 173: Diet, Nutrition, and HumanGrowthInstructor: James Holland JonesJanuary 6, 20041 Course DescriptionAll animals need to acquire energy and other essential resources from their environments, andhumans are no exception. In this course, we will consider human nutritional requirements, thephysiological process es that mediate intake, absorption, and use, and the constraints placedupon human biology by the distribution of resources in the environment.This course is simultaneously ecological and evolutionary. That is, it considers both thedistribution and abundance of resources and the history and adaptive value of traits and rela-tionships.We will explore to a large extent the ecology of nutrient distribution in the developed indus-trial world and its consequences for an omnivorous primate adapted to fluctuating environments(i.e., us!).2 ReadingsWe will use three texts:1. Tanner, J.F. 1990. Foetus into man, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.2. Ungar, P.S and M.F. Teaford, eds. 2002. Human diet: Its origin and evolution. NewYork: Bergin & Garvey.3. Brownell, K.D. and K.B. Horgen. 2004. Food fight: The inside story of the food industry,America’s obesity crisis, and what we can do about it. New York: Contemporary Books.These texts will be supplemented extensively by readings from the primary literature. Forthe most part, the reading load of this class is moderate. You can expect to read 2-3 chaptersfrom a book and about two journal articles each week.Readings will be placed on reserve at the Falconer Biology Library.I will provide URLs to all course-related readings from the primary literature which areavailable online to the Stanford community. I will also make every effort to provide electroniccopies of those primary literature readings which are not available in native electronic formatvia coursework.12.1 About This SyllabusThis syllabus is designed to be used both in both printed and online forms. Many of the weeklyreadings will have internet links directly through this document. If you use MacOS, I suggestthat you view this document using the Adobe Ac robat Reader, and not Preview, which is oftenset to be the default pdf reader under OS X.3 AssignmentsThere will be four (4) homework assignments spread out over the quarter. These include: (1)dietary recall, (2) plotting and analysis of growth data, (3) m eas urement of food distribution,and (4) a brief critique of a reducing diet.Each assignment will be relatively brief (2-3 pages of writing), and all but the last will bediscrete (i.e., problem-set like) tasks. Specific details about each assignment will be provided inthe weeks that they are assigned.4 GradingThe breakdown of grading for this class will be as follows:40% Each one of the four assignments will count as 10% of your grade for the course, totaling40%.20% Midterm exam. Midterm will be in-class on Thursday, 12 February.40% Cumulative final exam.Homework assignments are due at the start of class on the Thursday of the week they aredue. Late assignments will lose one third of a grade each day following the due date.Make-up e xams will be granted only in unusual circumstances, and only when appropriatelydocumented as legitimate (e.g., by a doctor, residence dean, etc.).5 SyllabusWeek 1. 6 January: Background: Human Evolutionary Ecology1. Life History Theory2. What Is Ecology?3. The Comparative Perspective4. Scaling5. Is Evolution Useful?2Readings: Armelagos (1987), Mann and Truswell (2002, ch.2 & 3), Willmer et al.(2000, ch. 1)Recommended: Willmer et al. (2000, ch. 1-2)Week 2. 13 January: The Building Blocks: Nutritional Components of the Human Diet1. Energy and Macronutrients2. Micronutrients3. Antifeedants4. Dispersal SyndromesReadings: Mann and Truswell (2002, chapters 4 & 5), Hladik and Chivers (1994),Chivers and Langer (1994)Recommended: Jackson (1991)Week 3. 20 January: Metabolic Physiology1. Hormones and the Organization of the Neuroendocrine System2. Energy, Protein, and Lipid MetabolismAssignment: 24-hour Food RecallReadings: Vander et al. (2001, ch. 17 & 18), Diamond (2003),Week 4. 27 January: Human Growth I: ProcessReadings: Tanner (1990, ch. 1-6), Schroeder et al. (1995), Brown and Pollitt (1996),Leigh (1996)Week 5. 3 February: Human Growth II: Measurement1. Growth Standards2. Stunting, Wasting, and Catch-Up GrowthAssignment: Plotting Growth CurvesReadings: Tanner (1990, ch. 7-12), Suskind et al. (2001), Martorell et al. (1994)Week 6. 10 February: Growth and MaturationAssignment: Midterm Exam, Thursday, 12 Fe bruaryReadings: Ellison (1981), Prentice and Whitehead (1987)Week 7. 17 February: Ecology of Food Distribution1. Trophic Flows2. Phenology33. Jarman-BellReadings: Van Schaik et al. (1993), Wrangham et al. (1999), Ungar and Teaford(2002, ch. 6-7)Week 8. 24 February: Economies of Food Extraction1. Foraging2. Horticulture3. Agriculture4. Industrial and Post-Industrial EconomiesAssignment: Distributional EcologyReadings: Ungar and Teaford (2002, ch 3-6)Week 9. 2 March: Ecology and Epidemiology1. Malnutrition2. ObesityAssignment: Critique of reduction dietReadings: Start Brownell and Horgen (2004)Week 10. 9 March Thoughts on Diet and HealthReadings: Finish Brownell and Horgen (2004), Ungar and Teaford (2002, ch. 8)ReferencesArmelagos, G. J. (1987). Biocultural aspects of food choice. In M. Harris and E. Ross (Eds.),Food and evolution: Toward a theory of human food habits, pp. 579–594. Philadelphia: TempleUniversity Press.Brown, J. L. and R. Pollitt (1996). Malnutrition, poverty, and intellectual development. ScientificAmerican 1996, 38–43.Brownell, K. D. and K. B. Horgen (2004). Food fight: The inside story of the food industry,America’s obesity crisis, and what we can do about it. Chicago: Contemporary Books.Chivers, D. J. and P. Langer (1994). Food, form and function: Interrelationships and futureneeds. In D. Chivers and P. Langer (Eds.), The digestive system in mammals: Food, form,and function, pp. 411–430. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Diamond, J. M. (2003). The double puzzle of diabetes. Nature 423, 599–602.4Ellison, P. T. (1981). Threshold hypotheses , developmental age, and menstral function. Amer-ican Journal of Physical Anthropology 54 (3), 337–340.Hladik, C. M. and D. J. Chivers (1994). Foods and the digestive system. In D. Chivers andP. Langer (Eds.), The digestive system in mammals: Food, form, and function, pp.


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