Tourism and Maternal Health: Customs, Beliefs, and Everyday Practices

Tourism and Maternal Health examines prenatal health in the Monteverde Zone in the context of a tourism-driven nutrition transition. In today’s fast-paced globally connected society, even rural regions, such as the central highlands of Costa Rica, are affected by the rise in chronic non-communicable disease associated with changes in local food systems. However, a discussion of prenatal health is often absent from the narrative linking these changes with disease risk. This is surprising, as maternal health has been shown to influence communities via biological and cultural pathways. The in-depth research presented in this book shows how culture can mediate some of the negative impacts of rapid changes in the food environment. This narrative also argues for the important role that practice-oriented research plays in unpacking the complex relationship between global policy and community health.