|
Welcome to the April issue of HSPH
Update, an e-letter for friends of the
Harvard School of Public Health.
|
|
|
Goodbye trans fats; now it is salt's turn
HSPH's Walter Willett looks to change how America eats.
Three years ago, when Willett first called trans fats "nutritional poison," few would have guessed that by 2009, legislation would go into effect in several cities to rid foods of the fats. Now he's thinking about suggesting a regulation mirroring a new law in the United Kingdom to mandate a dramatic salt reduction in all packaged and processed foods. And he's also suggesting a national tax of up to 18 percent on sodas and candy.
Read the full Boston Globe story.
|
|
Want to live longer? Cut the pollution
Clean
up the skies over any dirty city, and the people who live there will
all but certainly become healthier. That, at least, has been popular
wisdom, but until now, no one had ever put it to a statistical test.
Now someone has, and the results are striking, according to a study
led by HSPH researchers.
Read the full Time magazine story.
|
|
HSPH's Koh nominated for Obama administration post
President Obama announced on March 25 his intent to nominate Dr. Howard Koh to be assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services.
Read more.
|
|
Surgical checklist stars in TV's ER
Recently the TV show ER featured the safe surgery checklist developed by an international team led by HSPH faculty. The tool, tested in a study published earlier this year, can have a major impact on reducing deaths and complications due to surgical errors around the world, the team believes.
Read more.
|
|
Researchers stress fitness for firefighters, EMTs
A new study led by HSPH researchers found that more than 75 percent of
emergency responder candidates for fire and ambulance services in Massachusetts are either
overweight or obese. All of the normal-weight recruits passed minimum exercise tests
recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit
that sets standards for the industry. But 7 percent of the overweight
and 42 percent of the obese recruits failed to meet the minimum
standard, said the researchers.
Read the Boston Globe story.
|
|
Solitary confinement as torture
Read HSPH Associate Professor Atul Gawande's article in the March 30 issue of the New Yorker.
|
|
|
|
|
HSPH's Nutrition Source simplifies healthy eating
|
 |
|
A lot of confusing information about nutrition gets batted about in the
media and on the Web. The Nutrition Source cuts through all that
confusion, providing clear tips for healthy eating and dispelling a few
nutrition myths along the way.
Read more.
|
Rape in Congo: HSPH alumna interviews soldiers
|
 |
|
Jocelyn Kelly, MS'08, researches the dynamics of sexual violence in the Congo for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
Read her blog post.
View a recent presentation.
|
|
|
