Culture Matters in Health summary_AGBTS2020

Abstract

This is the summary for my AGBTS presentation: In this presentation, I explore the ways anthropologists view health issues. I focus on the triangle of adaptation, which shows the importance of interactions between biology/genetics, physical environment, and social/cultural environment in understanding health problems. I give several examples of human traits and health issues including hookworm infection, pain during childbirth, and blood pressure to illustrate how an anthropologist can add information to health and illness issues that many other fields do not consider. Throughout the presentation, I emphasize the usefulness of the broad understanding provided by the anthropological perspective in creating solutions for modern health problems.