Obesity has doubled since 1980, major global analysis of risk factors reveals 
The worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, according to a major study on how three important heart disease risk factors have changed across the world over the last three decades. The study shows that in 2008, more than one in ten of the world's adult population was obese, with women more likely to be obese than men. An estimated 205 million men and 297 million adult women were obese--a total of more than half a billion adults worldwide. Read more

New U.S. Dietary Guidelines: Progress, not perfection

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released on January 31, but an article in the Nutrition Source argues that the recommendations don't go far enough.  

PODCAST: Air pollution hurts brain function

Melinda Power, a doctoral student in epidemiology and environmental health, discusses new findings that traffic-related air pollution may lower cognitive function in older men. Listen to podcast

Around the School 

Faculty book
Nancy Krieger's new book Epidemiology and The People's Health: Theory and Context will be released this month from Oxford University Press. The book traces the rich history of epidemiologic theory, a science that is "critical for improving the people's health and minimizing inequitable burdens of disease, disability, and death." Learn more about the book.

Krieger will launch the book with a lecture and book signing sponsored by the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the Department of Society, Human Development and Health.
March 9
5:00-7:00 PM
Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
9 Bow Street
Cambridge