This volume looks at the relationship between specific aspects of Third World cities and human health. Rapid and extensive urbanization of the less developed nations is perhaps the most dramatic demographic phenomenon of our times, but its impact on human biology is not well understood. Here, a cross-section of work is presented on this subject allowing human biologists, urban planners, public health workers and other specialists to assess our knowledge and the current approaches available to increase it. Contributions fall into two groups: studies of urban ecology including the social, economic and physical domains, and studies of biological responses to the urban environment. Health is not merely the absence of specific diseases, but is construed more broadly to include a wide range of biological parameters that are correlated with various states of sub-optimal health. These include patterns of child growth and development, frequencies of specific diseases, nutritional status, immunological characteristics and physiological parameters. This important volume will be of interest to a wide range of researchers and academics, including human biologists, anthropologists, healthcare professionals, human geographers, urban and regional planners, and economists.

"...a valuable production as the exploration continues for many years to come." Swailem S. Hennein, Doody's

"One of the main strengths of the volume is that most contributors go beyond a simple urban-rural comparison to assess the effects of urbanization. A theme that runs through the book is the variation that exists in both urban and rural environments and the important effects that this variation has on health....The approach to urbanization taken by the contributors to this book is an important one for human biologists."Sara Stinson, American Journal of Physical Anthropology