Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been a radical demographic and nutritional transition worldwide characterized by greater food abundance, increased population size, higher fecundity, and lower rates of mortality from infectious disease. The price of economic development is demonstrated by the Epidemiological Transition, where falling rates of infectious disease are replaced by rising rates of chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In addition to other factors such as diet, increased morbidity from chronic diseases is closely associated with a trend toward decreased physical activity levels. But shifting activity patterns present unique challenges for developed and developing nations. How do rapidly urbanizing rural subsistence populations navigate this transition? What is its effect on human activity patterns, physical fitness, and health? These questions are at the core of much of my research.