Assignment Code: MSD-020/TMA/2023

Course Code: MSD-020

Assignment Name: Population, Health and Sustainability

Year: 2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Q1) “Empowering women is the key to control the population growth.’’ Discuss.

Ans) Almost all democratic developing countries have had a hard time keeping their populations under control. Because of the country's large population and fast growth, the benefits of development efforts aren't always clear. This makes it hard for policymakers to decide what to do. Putting more power in the hands of women can help control population growth, but it's not the only solution. When women are given more power, they are more likely to have access to education, health care, and jobs, which can give them more control over their own lives and choices about having children. This can lead to fewer children per family and slower population growth. But population growth is a complicated issue that is affected by many things, such as cultural norms, government policies, access to resources for family planning, and more. If these other things aren't taken care of, giving women more power might not be enough to make population growth sustainable.

Even though the fertility rate is going down, the main reason for population growth is the entry of teenage girls into the breeding group and women's low social status, which means they don't have much say in making decisions. Also, population control might not work if people don't have access to better health and education facilities, if women don't have a say in local government, and if there aren't any family planning programmes. Also, it's important to realise that giving women access to resources and opportunities isn't the only way to give them power. It also means changing the attitudes and beliefs of society, which often limit women's freedom and independence. Family planning is not a way for governments to force the birth rate down in order to respect the dignity of women and children (or up, through natalist policies). It's also not about people in rich countries, where pollution is the worst, telling people in poor countries to stop having kids. When family planning focuses on giving women access to health care and meeting their needs, it leads to empowerment, equality, and well-being. The benefits to the planet are just a bonus. Getting equal rights for men and women will make the world a healthier and happier place, and it's also a must if we want to make real progress on the environment.

Population Matters wants women to have more power all over the world, including:

1. Making sure that girls and women have the same opportunities to go to school and work.

2. Making sure that women have full control over their bodies, including full access to modern birth control and abortion.

3. Stopping child and forced marriage, which hurts girls' rights to live a healthy, happy life.

4. Making sure that all laws treat women equally and stopping all policies that hurt women.

5. Getting rid of patriarchal ways of thinking and acting that hurt women and keep them from getting into positions of power.

6. Giving women the same kind of unhindered career growth as their partners by giving them enough parental leave and childcare options.

Role of empowerment in the prevention of population growth:

1. Even now, most women use birth control based on what their parents or older family members say. When women have more power, they will be able to decide how many children to have.

2. Women who have more money will be able to pay for better health care facilities.

3. Population growth can be controlled better if everyone gets a primary education, girls' education is given extra attention, there is economic equality, and people have more power because of better health care.

Population growth will also be limited by the number of children and the age at which people choose to get married. In conclusion, giving women more power is an important step toward slowing down population growth, but it must be part of a comprehensive plan that takes into account different cultures and addresses all of the factors that affect population growth. Women's needs should be a focus of efforts to build up people's skills and knowledge, so that their skills and experience are fully used in decision-making at all levels. Education for sustainability is based on five main ideas: lifelong learning, interdisciplinary education, partnerships, multicultural education, and empowering students. Women and girls should have full and equal access to all levels of education and training. This should be a top priority.

Q2) What environmental factors are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of the outbreak of epidemic diseases in future? Explain in detail.

Ans) Epidemic Disease: An epidemic is a sudden rise in the number of people getting sick in a certain area. or an epidemic is a sudden outbreak of a disease that affects a lot of people in a certain area, community, or population. Epidemics are things like yellow fever, smallpox, measles, and polio. Infectious disease outbreaks are usually caused by a number of things, such as a big change in the ecology of the area's population. Epidemics happen when infected food supplies, like tainted drinking water, and disease-carrying animals, like rats or mosquitoes, move around. Some infectious agents can spread from season to season, which can cause epidemics.

Many organisms that cause disease are strongly affected by environmental factors like temperature, rainfall, and humidity, which are themselves affected by climate change. It is expected that climate change will change how infectious diseases spread. Population growth, people moving from rural areas to cities, international air travel, poverty, wars, and changes to the environment that are bad because of economic growth and land use are all things that have caused these changes. Epidemics are usually categorised as coming from a single source or spreading. The name for a disease depends on how it spreads through a group of people.

When a disease spreads from one person to another, this is called a "propagated outbreak." This can happen through direct contact, like with some sexually transmitted diseases, through sharing an item or vehicle that spreads the disease, like a needle, which is called vehicle-borne transmission, or through a vector, like a mosquito, which is also called vector-borne transmission. For example, in 2014, an outbreak of the Ebola virus killed thousands of people, mostly in western Africa. It was an epidemic because the virus spread from person to person through contact with infected body fluids. As families took care of sick family members and other caregivers helped sick people, many people were exposed to the virus and got sick.

When a group of people get sick after being exposed to the same virus, bacteria, toxin, or other infectious agent, this is called an outbreak with a common source. For instance, a common-source outbreak happens when several people get sick on the same day after eating the same contaminated food at the same restaurant. A point-source outbreak is another name for this type of common-source outbreak. In this case, people who get sick get sick quickly after getting sick.

Outbreaks from a common source can also last for a long time. People are exposed to the same source for a longer time during a continuous common-source outbreak. This can go on for days, weeks, or even longer. In 1854, for example, many people in the Broad Street area of London, England got sick from a common source of cholera. The source of the outbreak was found to be the dirty public water pump on Broad Street. In a common-source outbreak with an intermittent source, patients are exposed to the source of the disease at different times.

A mixed epidemic has both a common source and an outbreak that spreads from person to person. For example, people who got sick from a common source outbreak could spread the disease to others through direct contact. This happened in 1988 at a music festival, where about 3,000 women got shigellosis, a type of food poisoning. When these women went home, they passed the disease from person to person.

Some epidemics don't have a single cause or way of spreading. These epidemics are caused by diseases that are spread to people by a vector, like a tick, or an animal. One example is the spread of Lyme disease in the northeaster United States in the 1980s, which was caused by infected deer ticks biting people.

Q3) Why is it difficult for cities and urban areas to address the relationship between food, nutrition and health? Establish the relationship between nutrition and sustainable development.

Ans) Relationship between Food, Nutrition and Health: When it comes to food, nutrition, and health, cities and other urban areas face a lot of problems. Food deserts are one of the most important problems. People in low-income areas don't always have access to healthy food, so they have to rely on cheap, processed foods that aren't good for them. This is because there aren't many grocery stores and supermarkets with fresh fruits and vegetables in these areas, so there aren't many unhealthy, processed foods to choose from.

Another problem is that healthy foods are very expensive. Most healthy foods are more expensive than unhealthy ones, which makes it hard for low-income families to eat well. People in cities who don't have a lot of money often have to make decisions based on cost, and unhealthy foods are often cheaper. This means that many people who live in cities have no choice but to eat unhealthy foods, which can cause a lot of health problems.

People who live in cities often have busy, fast-paced lives, which can make them rely on quick, easy, but unhealthy food options. People don't have much time to plan and cook meals, so they often turn to fast food and other processed foods that are high in calories, sugar, and fats that are bad for them. This makes people eat badly, which can hurt their health and make them more likely to get obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other long-term health problems.

Another problem that leads to bad eating habits in cities is the marketing of unhealthy foods. Junk food, soda, and other unhealthy products are often marketed directly to kids and teens, who are very open to these kinds of messages. This starts a cycle of bad eating habits that can last into adulthood and lead to long-term health problems.

Another problem cities and urban areas face when trying to figure out how food, nutrition, and health are related is that they don't have enough space for farming. There isn't much space for farming in cities, which makes it hard to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. This makes it harder to find fresh, healthy food options, which can lead to bad eating habits.

Lastly, some urban areas may have food traditions that put unhealthy foods at the top of the list. For instance, traditional Mexican food, which is popular in many cities, is often high in unhealthy fats and salt. Changing these cultural food traditions can be hard, but it needs to be done if cities and urban areas want to encourage healthy eating habits.

In the end, figuring out how food, nutrition, and health are related in cities and urban areas requires a multi-disciplinary approach that includes the government, community groups, and the food industry. Creating a healthy and sustainable food environment in cities and urban areas means making it easier for people to get healthy food, reducing the marketing of unhealthy food, and teaching people about how to eat well.

Relationship between Nutrition and Sustainable Development: Good nutrition is important for sustainable development, and good nutrition is important for sustainable development. This means that nutrition and sustainable development go hand in hand. Poor nutrition can hurt a person's health and well-being in many ways, like making them more likely to get chronic diseases, making them less productive, and slowing their brain development. On the other hand, a healthy and productive population is one of the most important parts of sustainable development.

Social, economic, and environmental factors all play a role in sustainable development, and nutrition is important for all of them. In terms of social development, getting enough food is important for good health and well-being, as well as for human growth and promoting equality between men and women. Malnutrition, especially in women and children, can hurt their mental and physical development for a long time. This slows down economic growth and social progress.

In terms of economic growth, good nutrition is important for building human capital and making the economy more productive. Malnutrition can make people less productive at work, raise the cost of health care, and slow down economic growth. On the other hand, good nutrition can make workers more productive, lower the cost of health care, and help the economy grow and develop.

In terms of the long-term health of the environment, the production and distribution of food has a big effect on things like land degradation, water scarcity, and the release of greenhouse gases. Poor nutrition is often linked to food systems that can't last, as well as to more waste and use of resources. On the other hand, sustainable food systems that put a priority on good nutrition can reduce the impact of food production and distribution on the environment while also helping people stay healthy and happy.

Food security, which is closely related to nutrition, must also be taken into account for sustainable development. Food security is reached when everyone has access to enough safe, healthy food to meet their needs. When people don't have enough access to food, especially in areas with low incomes, it can cause malnutrition and other health problems. Sustainable food systems must make sure that food is grown in a way that is good for the environment and that everyone has access to and can afford food.

In the end, nutrition and sustainable development are very closely related and depend on each other. A healthy diet is important for people's health and well-being, economic growth and development, and the long-term health of the environment. In turn, sustainable development is important to make sure that everyone has access to healthy, sustainable food. To solve these problems, the government, communities, the private sector, and civil society organisations all need to work together.

Q4) The World Population hit 8 billion on 15th November 2022. What does this mean in terms of advantages and challenges?

Ans) The fact that there will be 8 billion people in the world in 2022 is a big step in the growth of the human population. More than half of the world's people live in Asia. China and India, which each have more than 1.4 billion people, are the two countries with the most people. Population growth has both good and bad things about it.

Challenges: As the number of young people in developing countries keeps growing quickly, governments are having a hard time providing enough classrooms and jobs for them, and food insecurity is becoming an even bigger problem. Between 2022 and 2050, the population of many sub-Saharan African countries is expected to double. This will put more strain on resources that are already stretched thin and make it harder for policies to reduce poverty and inequality. Climate change is making it harder to grow crops in many parts of the world, which is making it harder for more people to get water. This means that more families are at risk of going hungry.

There is also more stress on the environment, which makes food security more difficult and is made worse by climate change. Evidence from all over the world shows that a small number of people use most of the Earth's resources and make most of its greenhouse gas emissions.

Even if women in high-fertility countries today stopped having kids right away, this kind of growth would still happen.

With a bigger population, public services like education, health care, and infrastructure will be under more stress. This can make these services less useful and harder to get. When there are more people, there is more competition for jobs and housing, which can make prices go up, make people poor, and cause social unrest. Overcrowding in cities and other urban areas can make traffic worse, pollute the air, and make life less enjoyable.

With a bigger population, limited resources like water, food, energy, and land will be used up faster. This can cause resources to run out and the environment to get worse.

Large families are also important from a cultural point of view. In sub-Saharan Africa, children are seen as a blessing and a way for older people to get help. The more sons and daughters an older person has, the more comfortable they will be when they retire.

Population growth can also hurt the environment in ways like cutting down trees, causing soil erosion, and losing species.

Advantages: With more people able to make more goods, the economy will grow because of the benefits of a growing population. It will bring in more money for taxes, which can be used for things like public health care and environmental projects. Another benefit is that there will be a lot cheaper labour available. It could also make a big market, which would bring in more investors who want to put their money in a country with a lot of people.

Improvements in health and medicine have led to a fast growth in the population. Let's not forget that many countries still have a lot of babies. High fertility rates not only cause the world's population to grow quickly, but they also mean that most people are young.

To solve these problems, governments, communities, and individuals all need to work hard and for a long time. This includes things like family planning programmes and giving women access to education and jobs, as well as investments in sustainable development, like giving people access to health care, education, and economic opportunities, and working to protect the environment and use resources in a sustainable way.

In the end, the world's population reaching 8 billion is a big milestone that brings both benefits and problems. To deal with these problems, the government, communities, the private sector, and civil society organisations all need to work together. We can make sure that the world's growing population leads to sustainable growth and a better future for everyone if we all work together.