Urbanism, Health and Human Biology in Industrialised Countries [Paperback]

Explores what effects urban living has on human health and behaviour.Within the next decade most of the world's population will live in cities and this is the most important change in human living conditions in our evolutionary history. Here, leading scientists show the lessons that must be learned from industrialised nations to prevent escalating problems in future. They clearly explain how urban living affects our health, social systems and physiology, what the likely consequences of increasing urbanisation will be for future generations, and what might be done to prevent or alleviate the most deleterious effects.Within the next decade most of the world's population will live in cities and this is the most important change in human living conditions in our evolutionary history. Here, leading scientists show the lessons that must be learned from industrialised nations to prevent escalating problems in future. They clearly explain how urban living affects our health, social systems and physiology, what the likely consequences of increasing urbanisation will be for future generations, and what might be done to prevent or alleviate the most deleterious effects.Over 70% of the population in industrialized nations live in cities; in the next decade so will most of the world's entire population. This volume examines the impact of urban living on human health and biology. Cities pose numerous and diverse social and biological challenges to human populations. These challenges bear little resemblance to the forces that molded human biology throughout millions of years of evolution. Urban populations in industrialized nations have distinctive patterns of behavior, social stratification, stress, infectious disease, diet, activity, and exposure to pollutants from years of industrialization. These features affect diverse aspects of human function including human nutrition, energy expenditure, growth, and reproduction.List of contributors; Part I. The Urban Environment: 1. UrbalS(