Sedentarization and children's health: Changing discourses in the northeast Badia of Jordan

The significance of the socioeconomic and cultural contexts of individuals’ accounts of health and illness is recognized in studies of lay discourses of health and illness. However, many studies of health care utilization argue that social and cultural contexts in non-industrialized countries reinforce the use of traditional medicines and constitute barriers to the effective use of biomedical services, reflecting the rooting of such studies in discourses of modernization and development. Based on interviews with 181 parents, this article illustrates the influence of development on changing discourses of children's health and illness among sedentarizing Bedu communities of the northeast Badia of Jordan. The accounts of sedentarized and semi-nomadic families are contrasted. It is suggested that Bedu social values have precipitated rather than inhibited changes. The article highlights the importance of understanding historical, socioeconomic and cultural contexts in formulating appropriate models of health service delivery.