INTRODUCTIONlThis review deals principally with nutrition in the tropics and the Far East, especially with those aspects of nutrition which are consid ered very important in these regions; it will be understood, however, that certain special aspects are of equal importance elsewhere, such as calcium metabolism, dental caries, etc. The biochemical phases of these problems are brought prominently forward in this review.Owing to the limited space available, various subjects have been omitted in their entirety, nor was there space for a critical discussion of many of the papers cited; in such cases the review is confined to a short summary of their contents only.Although the subjects dealt with are of common interest for many regions in the tropics and in the Far East, it would be impossible to consider these nutrition problems, and especially the applicability of research upon them, from a single viewpoint. The reason for this is that these regions, which include such an extensive area of the earth's surface, differ considerably in climate, density of population, diet, nature of soil, etc. There are, however, certain circumstances which make it possible to speak about nutrition problems which most tropical countries and countries in the Far East have in common, and which at least in many respects-Often differ from those in temperate re gions, especially in North America and Europe.In the fertile regions of the tropics and the Far East, such as lOwing to the war, it was not possible to look up all the literature which might have been important in this review. Following the outbreak of war, many of the European periodicals either did not come to hand at all, or arrived at very irregular intervals. Moreover, many periodicals from other countries only arrived after the lapse of months and appear to have escaped mention in earlier reviews. For these reasons more references are made to literature which appeared in the year 1940 than was first intended. It would be more correct to say that this review refers to the literature received in Batavia during the period January to October 1941. Almost all articles referred to were read in the origi nal form.
391Annu. Rev. Biochem. 1942.11:391-414. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by McMaster University on 02/05/15. For personal use only. Quick links to online content Further ANNUAL REVIEWS VANVEENChina, Japan, I ndia, Java, etc., the population is usually so dense that the individual can only with diHiculty find a means of existence.Lack of money and lack of industrialisation, coupled with the fact that the importation of foodstu·ffs renders many foods very expensive, make the people of these regions more dependent on the products of their own soil than is the case else,vhere. The same applies to the areas which are :less fertile, even though less populated.The combination of these circumstances often makes subsistence economy much more important than monetary ec onomy (which is j ust the reverse in industrialised regions) . As a result, the popUlation become...