**Culture and Public Health**

**Chapter 2**

**Provisional chapter**

**Globalization and Health in a Small Town in the**

**Globalization and Health in a Small Town in the** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79431

The chapter describes results of a study conducted in Ponta de Pedras, a small municipality (27,000 inhabitants) in the estuary of the Amazon River on Marajó Island, in the State of Pará. Close to 400 questionnaires were applied to the population to assess the impact of globalization on the municipality. The main revenue of the municipality comes from the export of açaí fruit, which became a global product after being discovered by two Californian surfers in around 1990. The city is three and half hours by boat from a large city, but it is connected to the world by Internet via mobile phones (95% of urban and 79% of rural population have a mobile phone), which is used for social media access, studies, açaí sales, and to buy products. Effects on cultural and eating habits have been observed, as processed foods are replacing fish and açaí among youngsters in the local diet. Hypertension was the main morbidity reported by the interviewees, particularly those living in the rural area. On the other hand, the urban area has poor sanitary infrastructure and public services. The chapter ends by discussing the complex role of globalization in the development of communities and how local governments and health policies could

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Amazon as a biome has a vast and large tropical forest, a diverse and greatly desired ecosystem that is important to the world in an environmental, social, and economic perspective. It attracts the attention of different people with varied exploitation interests. The use of its

**Keywords:** globalization, açaí fruit production, eating habits, health, Amazon region,

Viviana Mendes Lima, Sandra M.F. Costa and

Viviana Mendes Lima, Sandra M.F. Costa and

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

act to balance the effects of globalization on health.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79431

**Amazon Region**

**Amazon Region**

Helena Ribeiro

Helena Ribeiro

**Abstract**

Ponta de Pedras

**1. Introduction**

#### **Globalization and Health in a Small Town in the Amazon Region Globalization and Health in a Small Town in the Amazon Region**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79431

Viviana Mendes Lima, Sandra M.F. Costa and Helena Ribeiro Viviana Mendes Lima, Sandra M.F. Costa and Helena Ribeiro

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79431

#### **Abstract**

The chapter describes results of a study conducted in Ponta de Pedras, a small municipality (27,000 inhabitants) in the estuary of the Amazon River on Marajó Island, in the State of Pará. Close to 400 questionnaires were applied to the population to assess the impact of globalization on the municipality. The main revenue of the municipality comes from the export of açaí fruit, which became a global product after being discovered by two Californian surfers in around 1990. The city is three and half hours by boat from a large city, but it is connected to the world by Internet via mobile phones (95% of urban and 79% of rural population have a mobile phone), which is used for social media access, studies, açaí sales, and to buy products. Effects on cultural and eating habits have been observed, as processed foods are replacing fish and açaí among youngsters in the local diet. Hypertension was the main morbidity reported by the interviewees, particularly those living in the rural area. On the other hand, the urban area has poor sanitary infrastructure and public services. The chapter ends by discussing the complex role of globalization in the development of communities and how local governments and health policies could act to balance the effects of globalization on health.

**Keywords:** globalization, açaí fruit production, eating habits, health, Amazon region, Ponta de Pedras

## **1. Introduction**

Amazon as a biome has a vast and large tropical forest, a diverse and greatly desired ecosystem that is important to the world in an environmental, social, and economic perspective. It attracts the attention of different people with varied exploitation interests. The use of its

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

natural resources has intensified, especially for export, with few benefits for its socioenvironmental sustainability. Anthropization of the territory and changes in the natural landscape reflect intense rural-urban migratory processes.

**2. Ponta de Pedras: a municipality in the Brazilian Amazon**

City Administration and the economic power in the urban area [11].

Ponta de Pedras is part of a group of small cities in the Brazilian Amazon. It is located at latitude 01°23′25" South and longitude 48°52′16" West, and it is one of the 143 municipalities of the State of Pará (**Figure 1**). Its site is on Marajó Island, in the estuary region of the Amazon River, 3 h and 30 min by boat from the state capital, Belém. The municipality has an upland (Terra Firme) and a lowland influenced by the Rio Marajó-Açu. The water system connected to this river varies in depth between summer and winter, causing changes in the human dynamics of the municipality, such as fishing and collecting forest products, as well as in the navigation on the river. Several durable and industrialized products are brought from the capital by boat for supplying the local commerce, and, on the opposite direction, the local production is distributed to Belém, such as fish, açaí, heart of palm, among others. The degree of urban/rural mobility is determined by factors that include the distance between the communities and the

Globalization and Health in a Small Town in the Amazon Region

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79431

13

The municipality had 27,000 inhabitants, 49% of them in the urban area, an annual population growth of 3.35% between 2000 and 2010, and Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.562, lower than the Brazilian index of 0.768 [1]. Regarding the municipal HDI, in 2010, longevity presented a 0.77 index, income 0.558, and education 0.412, the worst component of the local index, indicating a high proportion of children and youth out of school. As discussed by [12], between 1969 and 2010, the small town of Ponta de Pedras expanded physically by more than 100%,

**Figure 1.** Location of the municipality of Ponta de Pedras. Source: produced by Laboratory for Studies of Cities—

UNIVAP [10].

The Brazilian Amazon is the largest region in the country with 4 million km2 . It has 12.9 million inhabitants, according to [1], corresponding to 8.2% of the Brazilian population. The end of the twentieth century, at the Amazon frontier, brought important structural and territorial transformations in the economic and social relations resulting from globalization [2]. This phenomenon promoted changes in the Amazon and affected the forest biodiversity [3, 4]. Globalization conveys the ideas of speed and fluidity that are connected to the characteristics of modern global society, defined by [5] as the technical-scientific-informational environment. Globalization is not only the existence of this new system of techniques, but it is also the result of the actions that ensure the emergence of a so-called global market. It is related to a consumer society, a technological society, or capitalist information societies, referred by [6] as the network society.

Considering these aspects, this chapter aims to analyze the production of açaí for the inclusion of the region in the globalization process, in the municipality of Ponta de Pedras, in the Brazilian Amazon, located in Marajó Island, Brazil. This relationship was studied in rural and urban areas, based on three elements: access to consumer goods, changes in eating habits, and population health.

Açaí (*Euterpe oleracea* Mart.) has been increasingly used in national and international cuisine, so it is globally marketed, after it was discovered by two Californian surfers in around 1990. The production of açaí fruit is one of the main elements of the income and consumption of the riverside population of the State of Pará, with heart of palm as a by-product [7]. Also known as açaí-do-Pará, açaí-do-baixo Amazonas, açaí-de-touceira, açaí-de-planta, and true açaí, it has countless uses [8]. Its production is best developed in floodplains, during the rainy periods of the region. The expansion of the açaí economy occurred due to a combination of internal and external factors. This expansion cannot be understood as a result of rural migration and urban growth only, but also due to changes and maintenance of eating habits, taste preferences, and forms of consumption, which occurred together with changes in the symbolic value related to açaí [9].

For the development of this quali-quantitative study, a field data collection methodology was used, with questionnaires applied to the person in charge of the household, 320 in all urban sectors and 68 in the rural area of Ponta de Pedras, following randomized, stratified sampling (approved by the Ethics Committee of the Public Health School of USP, 099377/2015). In the rural area, the communities located along Rio Fortaleza, Rio Jupuba, Rio Marajó-Açu, and Rio São Miguel were selected because of their economic importance in the production and sale of açaí, and because they are close to the urban area. The following information was obtained: socioeconomic profile of the residents, family income, educational level, ownership of consumer goods as electrical and electronic equipment, eating habits and types of food consumed, waste disposal, sanitation habits and infrastructure of households, and health conditions. The field study was conducted between January and July 2016.
