Comprehensive national strategy needed to curb childhood obesity
Despite reports in recent years showing a decline or stabilization in U.S. childhood obesity rates, a study in the February 2018 issue of Pediatrics found no evidence of a decline and noted a marked increase in severe obesity…
Obesity rate soars in American adults and youth
Approximately 40% of U.S. adults and about 20% of adolescents are obese, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. This is the highest obesity rate ever recorded in the U.S. and is especially troubling due…
Chemical contamination in Australian drinking water
Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discussed the potential health effects of PFASs in drinking water in an October 9, 2017 interview on Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC-TV) Four Corners…
Oregon law aims to curb distracted driving
Jay Winsten, associate dean and the Frank Stanton Director of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication, discussed the challenges of getting drivers to curb their cellphone use when behind the wheel in…
Massachusetts report shows decline in opioid overdose deaths
A new Massachusetts Department of Public Health report showing a decline in the number of opioid overdose deaths for the first half of 2017 is encouraging news for health officials who hope the state is starting to make…
Noise pollution more common in communities of color and racially segregated cities
In communities with larger proportions of minority residents, noise levels are generally higher, according to a study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California, Berkeley. The study also showed that racially segregated…
Doctors need more nutrition education
Despite the connection between poor diet and many preventable diseases, only about one-fifth of American medical schools require students to take a nutrition course, according to David Eisenberg, adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School…
Report links welding fumes with risk of cancer
More priority needs to be given to protecting the world’s estimated 111 million welders and other workers from exposure to potentially toxic welding fumes, according to David Christiani, Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics at Harvard T.H. Chan…
Living in the shadows: Health of poor urban women often overlooked
March 29, 2017 – An elderly woman struggles to find food, clean water, and a toilet in her slum in India. A Brazilian woman, frightened by violence in her poor section of town, refuses to let a public…
Physicians’ opioid prescribing patterns linked to patients’ risk for long-term drug use
For immediate release: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 At a glance: New research shows great variation among clinicians’ opioid prescribing practices and links physician prescription patterns to patients’ risk for subsequent long-term opioid use. Being treated by an emergency…
