Dissertation Research: Dental Enamel Hypoplasia and Historical Famine (1959 - 1961) in Contemporary Chinese Populations

有证据表明，儿童时期的营养不良会导致系统性的牙齿发育不良或特定种类的畸形。这仍然是有争议的，因为一些科学家认为，这种发育不良是或可能是遗传的结果，并且是“自然”发生在不同的人群中。本研究将确定在人类记忆中最严重和最广泛的饥荒之一（1959-1961年）发生在中国的大量活着的儿童中牙齿发育不良的比率。在对一个农村和城市社区的2000多人进行的检查中，它将确定在饥荒之前、期间和之后发育不全的变化率，城市和农村人口之间的区别，以及性别差异是否明显。由于参与该项目的研究生在这两个地区都是“赤脚医生”，因此可以确保接触到人群。这项研究对于建立过去人口中人类营养的生物考古重建基线数据，以及对记录不佳的欠发达国家的营养调查具有重要意义。

There is evidence that malnutrition during childhood causes systematic dental hypoplasias or deformities of particular kinds. This is still controversial, because some scientists argue that such hypoplasias are, or can be, the result of heredity, and are "naturally" occurring in different populations. This study will establish the rates of dental hypoplasias in a large series of living individuals who were children during one of the worst and most widespread famines of human memory - in China from 1959-1961. In an examination of over 2,000 individuals in a rural and urban community, it will establish what the changing rates of hypoplasias were before, during, and after the famine, what the distinctions between urban and rural populations were, and whether sex differences in effects are apparent. As the graduate student involved in the project was a "barefoot doctor" in both these areas, access to the populations is assured. This study will be very important in establishing baseline data for bioarchaeological reconstructions of human nutrition in past populations, and for nutritional surveys in underdeveloped countries with poor records.