Tensions surrounding (mal)nutrition in indigenous and white populations in Salta, Argentina: an anthropological perspective

Abstract

This article analyzes the ways in which malnutrition is related to land access, labor conditions, ethnic and gender relations, and the social and cultural organization of child care in rural and peri-urban contexts in Orán, Salta, Argentina. Research was conducted from an ethnographic approach in which qualitative and quantitative techniques were used with ava-guaraní, kolla, wichí and white populations who were patients of Salta’s Primary Health Care Program (PROAPS) between 2010 and 2016. Although child malnutrition is cast as an “indigenous problem” by certain health personnel and public officials, cases of malnutrition were observed in white children, while there were no positive diagnoses of malnutrition among children living in communities with territorial recognition. Access to rural land, even without title deeds, enables food self-production and allows access to more stable housing and working conditions. The violation of indigenous populations’ territorial rights are a determining factor in understanding nutritional deficits among children.

Keywords

• Child Care
• Malnutrition
• Anthropology
• Social Constrution of Gender
• Argentina