The health consequences of "modernization" : evidence from circumpolar peoples /

Dramatic lifestyle alterations experienced by peoples of the circumpolar regions of the northern hemisphere during the last two decades have brought them from a hunter-gatherer existence to a sedentary, market-dependent existence not too far removed from that of urban dwellers to the south. As a baseline for this work, Shephard and Rode have used the studies of the International Biological Programme (IBP), The Human Biology of Circumpolar Populations, ed. by F.A. Milan (1980). It describes changes in the physical and social environments, including technology, food supply, communications, and economy. These are then linked to trends in human biology, such as disease patterns, growth and body composition, physical fitness, and cold tolerance, demonstrating the negative effects of modernization. The book's findings reveal the flawed assumptions of the IBP, i.e., that much of human adaptation to extreme environments is genetic. The book is clearly written and well referenced, with numerous tables and charts used to display the biological data. Of interest to historians of science as well as human biologists and anthropologists. S. A. Quandt Wake Forest University