NIOD
8.1.2009
NIOD/NIAS lezing Long term effects of a famine. Hunger winter 1944/45' op 21 Januari
Het NIOD en het Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) organizeren op 21 januari 2009 (NIOD, 11.00-13.00 uur) een lezing van L.H.Lumey getiteld Long term effects of a famine. An overview of medical studies of the Dutch Hunger winter of 1944-45.
In the Netherlands, the winter of 1944-1945 is known as the "Hunger Winter". In spite of the war, nutrition in the Netherlands had generally been adequate between 1940 and October 1944. Thereafter official rations fell below 900 kcal per day by the end of November, 1944, and were as low as 500 kcal per day by April 1945. This resulted in widespread starvation in the western Netherlands. The famine ceased after the German surrender in early May, 1945. After Liberation, adequate food supplies were restored and all health indicators rapidly recovered. Because the Dutch population was typically well fed before and after the Hunger Winter and the famine is clearly defined by time and place, the circumstances of the famine provide a quasi-experimental model to study the effects of extreme environmental changes in humans. In addition, medical records from the period are available and long term follow-up is possible using the Population Registers. Therefore people with famine exposure can be traced, contacted, and examined. Because of these circumstances, the famine offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of an adverse environment on long-term growth and development in human populations. This will be illustrated by a systematic review of medical studies of the Hunger winter.
L.H.Lumey Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Wassenaar (the Netherlands), Columbia University, New York (USA), Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology
Long term effects of a famine. An overview of medical studies of the Dutch Hunger winter of 1944-45.
Date: Wednesday 21 January 2009
Time: 11.00-13.00
Location: Conference Room, NIOD Amsterdam
Entrance free
If you wish to attend the seminar please send an email to Luuk Arens (l.arens@niod.knaw.nl) or phone 020-5233871