Suchergebnisse

Cambodian cities continue to experience major growth, due principally to in-country migration. However, the recent trajectory and historical context of urbanisation differs from other Asian countries and as such are less investigated. Using a framework of interconnected migration factors, this article reports on rural-to-urban migration in five provinces around Phnom Penh—from the perspective of both urban migrants and their rural family members. The work examines the economic, environmental, and sociocultural factors influencing migrants' current and desired movements, changing livelihood activities, and the permanency of migration choices. While there is evidence to support three major theories of migration—income differentials, environmental change, and social networks—it is argued that none of these alone explains current migration patterns. Explanations of Cambodian migration must account for the powerful attraction of home villages and kin relations, as well as the inseparability of two exogenous factors: the proliferation of microfinance (MFI) and the rise of the garment industry. The results show distinct patterns of migration with implications for adaptation, precarity, and rural livelihoods.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Diabetes is a burgeoning threat to public health in the USA. Importantly, the burden of diabetes is not equally borne across society with marked disparities based on geography, race/ethnicity, and income. The etiology of global and population-specific diabetes risk remains incompletely understood; however, evidence linking environmental toxicants acting as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as particulate matter and arsenic, with diabetes suggests that environmental policies could play an important role in diabetes risk reduction. RECENT FINDINGS: Evidence suggests that disproportionate exposures to EDCs may contribute to subgroup-specific diabetes risk; however, no federal policies regulate EDCs linked to diabetes based upon diabetogenic potential. Nevertheless, analyses of European Union data indicate that such regulation could reduce diabetes-associated costs and disease burden. SUMMARY: Federal laws only regulate EDCs indirectly. The accumulating evidence linking these chemicals with diabetes risk should encourage policymakers to adopt stricter environmental standards that consider both health and economic impacts.