Novel study shows link between economic opportunity and health, health behaviors and mortality

Three Harvard Pop Center faculty members are authors of a novel study published in the American Journal of Public Health that shows a link between economic opportunity – as measured by income differences between generations – and health behaviors (such as smoking and obesity), overall health and mortality. Learn more about the findings of this national study by Atheendar Venkataramani, MD, Ichiro Kawachi, MD, and Alexander Tsai, MD, in this piece…

Homicide rate reverses life expectancy gains for men in Mexico

Former Harvard Bell Fellow Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, PhD, is author on a study published in the journal HealthAffairs that has found that the unprecedented increase in homicides in Mexico between 2005 – 2010 resulted in reversing life expectancy gains for men, which had been improving for the prior 60 years. The study received much attention in the press, including a piece on fusion.net and medicaldaily.

Lisa Berkman on challenges of aging societies at Harvard’s inaugural TEDx event

Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, was a fitting speaker to kick off Harvard’s first TEDx event which explored the challenges posed as populations, influenced by both declining birth and death rates, change shape. Learn more in this Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s news item, and watch the video.

Eliminating ‘food deserts’ not a panacea for improving diet quality & reducing disparities

Harvard Pop Center faculty members Jason Block, MD, and SV Subramanian (Subu), PhD, have co-authored a paper published in PLOS Medicine that suggests that when it comes reducing dietary disparities and improving dietary quality in the U.S. there are more effective strategies than increasing access to healthy foods (eliminating ‘food deserts’). Learn more in this Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health news post, in this piece on MedicalDaily.com and…

A call to make count of law enforcement-related deaths visible

Harvard faculty member Nancy Krieger, PhD, is lead author on a study published in PLOS Medicine that calls for the CDC to to make law enforcement-related deaths (both those cases involving victims of police violence, as well as deaths of law enforcement agents in the line of duty) a “notifiable condition” which would allow public health workers to report this data in real-time. Learn about the how this increased visibility…

Despite economic progress, millions of women in low- and middle-income countries still severely undernourished

Harvard Pop Center faculty and researchers, including Fahad Razak, MD, former Bell Fellow and current visiting scientist, as well as former Bell Fellow Daniel Corsi, PhD, Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, and faculty member SV Subramanian (Subu), PhD, are among the authors of a novel study published in JAMA on severe, chronic, adult undernutrition. The study provides the first global estimate of severe undernutrition (defined by body mass index…