Compulsory detention, forced detoxification and enforced labour are not ethically acceptable or effective ways to treat addiction

Univ Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Womens Hosp Site, UQ Ctr Clin Res, Herston, Qld, AustraliaUniv Connecticut, Sch Med, Dept Community Med & Hlth Care, Farmington, CT 06030 USAKings Coll London, Inst Psychiat, Addict Dept, London SE5 8AF, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilDeakin Univ, Sch Psychol, Geelong, Vic 3217, AustraliaUniv Uyo, Dept Psychol, Uyo 520003, NigeriaUniv Connecticut, Sch Med, Calhoun Cardiol Ctr, Farmington, CT 06030 USAIHPP, CAS, Muang, Nonthaburi, ThailandUCL, Dept Epidemiol & Publ Hlth, CRUK Hlth Behav Res Ctr, London, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

A Model of Nutrition, Health and Economic Productivity

The objective of this paper is to develop a Model that integrates the biologically determined human need for food energy and the economic activity (most) people Bust engage in to be able to eat. The optimal work effort and the optimal body size of individuals in nutritionally constrained populations are derived. The model suggests that such individuals are economically better off keeping their work activity and body size down. The nutritional requirement of the individual is derived endogenously in the model and contrasted to the exogenously determined nutrition norms used by the FAO/WHO and other international organizations in order to assess the food situation in the poor countries. In the household version of the model, the optimal intra-family distribution of work activity and of food consumption, as well as the optimal male/female body weight ratio, are derived. The model suggests that in the economic optimum, the woman works more intensively then the man in relation to the food she consumes and that her optimal body weight (for height) is higher than the man's. The paper is part of a larger study that has as its main aims to assess the nutrition situation in Sub-Saharan Africa and to explain the reasons for the undernutrition that exists. According to the international organizations, the world's food problems of today are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. The FAO claims that the food 'available' in the region in the aid 1980s is only 80 percent of what is required even if distributed equally, which it is not. The World Bank has estimated that almost half the population in the region is undernourished and one-quarter severely so. In the larger study, the main corollaries following the analysis in this theoretical paper are tested on data from a large set of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The theoretical finding that the type of 'exogenous' nutrition norms used by the FAO/WHO and the World Bank induces a substantial upward bias in the estimated prevalence of undernutrition, is vindicated by the tests. The empirical analysis also corroborates the theoretical argument why women in this region have a higher body weight (for height) than men and, by implication, works harder relative to what they eat

Undernutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa

The predominant perception is that the world's food problems are now concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Declining food production and recurrent famine in many African countries are the focal points of much recent work on food problems. This paper assesses the evidence on the prevalence of undernutrition on a more permanent basis. The overall conclusion is that there is no firm evidence corroborating the notion that chronic and severe undernutrition is widespread in most parts of Africa. World Bank estimates, derived on the basis of aggregate data, suggest that almost half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished and one-quarter severely so. FAO estimates purport that the amount of calories available for human consumption in the region corresponds to 80 percent of requirements even if distributed in proportion to needs. In the present paper, these estimates are shown to be biased, i.e., to exaggerate the non-transitory food consumption problems in Africa. Moreover, the aggregate estimates do not square up with the evidence from (i) dietary, (ii) anthropometric and (iii) food expenditure studies of sample populations. Many infants and children in Africa are stunted by Western standards and they face an exceedingly high risk of dying. There is, however, practically no evidence vindicating the notion that lack of food at the household level is the main reason; it thus seems that other factors, such as disease and nutritional misallocation within the families, are the major culprits. Finally, it is shown that there is no bias against female children in Africa, something that has been found in South Asia and Latin America. On the contrary, in Africa, boys seem to be at a systematic disadvantage