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Food Security, Obesity, and the Politics of Resource Strain in Kuwait
Author(s) -
Wheeler Deborah L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
world medical and health policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.326
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 1948-4682
DOI - 10.1002/wmh3.153
Subject(s) - food security , per capita , resource (disambiguation) , scholarship , ethnography , politics , economic growth , public health , development economics , political science , geography , economics , natural resource economics , sociology , environmental health , agriculture , anthropology , medicine , computer network , population , nursing , archaeology , computer science , law
This study considers Kuwait's food security strategies in light of the country's environmental challenges. It examines the case of a country that relies on food imports, which are increasingly subject to supply and price shocks, and has one of the world's highest obesity rates, highest water use rates per capita, and one of the largest per capita waste footprints globally. The explanations for this curious situation include cultural, political, economic, and environmental variables supported by data collected between 2009 and 2014 using ethnographic research methods and participant observation in Kuwait. This article contributes to an emerging body of scholarship on new security challenges in the Arabian Gulf, and is one of the first to consider the national security implications of public health and resource strain in Kuwait, using ethnographic research methods.