Cultivating Well-being and Nutrition

The right balance is possible

From fast food to no food, from the obesity epidemic sweeping the globe to social isolation and unhappiness, we’re still plagued by barriers to human thriving. The links between our health and how we feel, interact, and live are complex and clouded. But the path forward has never seemed clearer.

We’re leading the way in determining how genetics, lifestyles and societies interact to influence everything from metabolism to mental health. We’re designing sustainable strategies to feed an exploding population. We’re leading cutting edge research to understand how diet impacts health at molecular and population levels—and how where we live, learn, work, and play influences our health. But it doesn’t stop at the science: we’re also shaping sustainable food policies, finding new ways to measure well-being, and providing insights to empower individuals and drive real-world progress.

We’re advancing health and happiness for all.

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Nutrition Source
The Nutrition Source at the Harvard Chan School is a leading authority on food and nutrition knowledge, providing science-based guidance for healthy living, and offering comprehensive nutrition information through timely content and tools.
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Recent Stories

Racial, ethnic minorities and low-income groups in U.S. exposed to higher levels of air pollution

Certain groups in the U.S.—Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Latinos, and low-income populations—are being exposed to higher levels of dangerous fine particulate air pollution than other groups, a study found.

Opinion: Improving maternal health outcomes requires better support during postpartum year

Improving maternal health outcomes in the U.S. will require an increased focus on support during the postpartum year.

Rebuilding community life post-pandemic may boost health and wellbeing

As people look ahead to the end of the immediate health crisis, it’s important to consider how communities can be rebuilt and created, according to Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology at…

Pandemic shining a light on need for better postpartum mental health care

The number of people suffering from mental health conditions has skyrocketed during the pandemic, but evidence suggests that pregnant and recently pregnant people have been hit particularly hard.

Calorie labeling may be prompting healthier restaurant meals

Newer dishes served by large restaurant chains tend to have fewer calories than items that have been on the menu for a while, according to new research led by Harvard Chan School.

Sara Bleich
Professor of Public Health Policy

"I predict that in 30 years, we will live in an environment where everything is nudging us toward healthy choices—as opposed to the environment we live in now, where everything conspires to get us to eat more and exercise less."
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Lindsay Jaacks
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Population

"Diabetes will be the signal disease for cardiovascular risk in the future, because most people with diabetes die from its complications, such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and kidney failure."
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Vasanti Malik
Research Scientist in the Department of Nutrition

"For many decades, one of the challenges has been how to assess diet in our research. In the future, we will see growth in wearables and other technologies that can directly evaluate diet... That will not only help research but also help consumers."
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