Insuring Our Children
Although children’s health insurance coverage rates have improved since the 1990s, disparities persist. Analysis from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) found that in the U.S. from 2016-2020, Asian children and multi-racial children experienced the highest insurance rates and American Indian and Alaska Native children experienced the lowest. SHADAC developed 50-state data profiles on children’s insurance rates to help policymakers improve access to coverage and ensure that all kids have an equal opportunity to develop into healthy adults.
Maternity Care in Rural America
“Having a place for people in your community to give birth is just a basic service. You can’t have a functioning community without it. And yet it’s increasingly seen as extra…. At a certain point it’s like, what are moms supposed to do?”
Professor Katy Kozhimannil
Being Race-conscious
“Racism contributes to colorblind policies that have really detrimental impacts on the diagnoses of schizophrenia or even dementia, access to care, and even the quality of care. We need anti-racist solutions that aren’t race-neutral, but instead are what I would refer to as being race-conscious.”
Assistant Professor Shekinah Fashaw-Walters
Walnuts for Healthy Aging
Reviewing data from the long-running Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, School of Public Health research led by PhD candidate So-Yun Yi found that participants who ate walnuts early on in life were healthier as they aged. But why? Walnuts have a higher level of omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid compared to other tree nuts, which may play a role in heart health, brain health, and healthy aging. And one serving of walnuts contains a variety of other important nutrients to support overall health including protein, fiber, magnesium, and a variety of antioxidants.
The Lasting Effects of Hunger
Growing evidence shows a strong link between disordered eating and food insecurity, or hunger, which disproportionately affects individuals across lower socioeconomic groups. SPH postdoc Vivienne Hazzard led a study showing that young people who had experienced severe food insecurity were more likely to report some of the most concerning disordered eating behaviors throughout adolescence and young adulthood.
Data Gathering During Disasters
When people rush to respond to weather-related or human-made disasters, there is little time to collect direct exposure data. As a result, when Associate Professor Susan Arnold wanted to explore the exposures that could contribute to health effects of chemical dispersants more than 10 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, she had to gather data from historic sources, such as weather records, and apply a model in a unique way to get to her findings. The model Arnold used could be applied to other situations where direct measurements may be lacking, but she recommends that response teams begin collecting direct exposure data with contextual details during incidences to reduce the need for modeling.
As COVID Continues, an Effective Drug Emerges
The recent COVID-OUT trial, which included School of Public Health assistant professors Jared Huling and Thomas Murray, looked at whether metformin, a commonly prescribed medication for type 2 diabetes; low-dose fluvoxamine, an antidepressant; and ivermectin, an antiparasitic, could serve to reduce COVID-19 severity and prevent Long-COVID. It turned out that none of the three drugs prevented a composite of low blood oxygen, ER visits, or hospitalizations, but metformin was observed to lower the odds of ER visits, hospitalizations, and death by over 40%, which keeps the door open for further consideration of this inexpensive treatment for COVID-19.
No to Muscle-Building Supplements
Adolescents are facing ever-increasing social pressures to develop muscular or toned bodies, leading to potentially dangerous behaviors, including overconsumption of nutritional products, such as protein, protein supplements, and creatine. Most of these nutritional products can be bought over-the-counter, and are not screened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A study from Professor Dianne Neumark-Sztainer found that 55% of males and 33% of females reported using protein supplements during adolescence and young adulthood. Adolescent boys who used these products were twice as likely to use steroids eight years later; adolescent girls were five times as likely.
