obesity prevention

A review of two implemented policies—an excise tax of 1.81 cents/ounce on sweetened beverages in Philadelphia, and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010—shows that both policies had a positive impact on health and health behaviors. Authors of the…

Harvard Bell Fellow Anna Grummon, PhD, and colleagues (including Harvard Pop Center faculty members Jason Block and Sara Bleich) evaluate the ethical strengths and weaknesses of food and beverage warnings (aimed to help prevent obesity and improve…

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that utilized state-level data projects that by 2030 almost 50% of U.S. adults will be obese, with some states coming in higher than 50% and no state at a level below 35%. Harvard Pop Center…

Harvard Pop Center faculty members Tracy Richmond, Mauricio Avendano, and Ichiro Kawachi, along with their colleague Inyang A. Isong, have published a study that takes a longitudinal look at the weight and growth status of kindergarten-aged children from…

A mother’s education level has been found to be linked to her offspring’s body mass index (BMI) as early as three years of age in three European countries. The recent findings by Harvard Pop Center affiliates (faculty member Mauricio…

A study by Harvard Pop Center faculty member Sara Bleich, PhD, published in the journal Obesity finds that while the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages is on the decline among both children and adults, it is still too high among adolescents and…

Harvard Pop Center faculty member Jason Block, MD, and a colleague pen this Editorial in JAMA, sharing their thoughts on the screening, treatment and prevention of childhood obesity in the US. The new recommendations by the expert panel, as…

Harvard RWJF Health & Society Scholars program alumna Christina Roberto, PhD, is an author on a study in Preventive Medicine that suggests that if certain foods can be shown to be addictive, it may be an effective way to strengthen obesity-related…

The findings of an analysis led by Harvard Pop Center faculty member Steven Gortmaker, PhD, that projected the health impacts of a soda tax were used to sway Philadelphia’s City Council to take this historic step.

Harvard Pop Center faculty member Mark Schuster, MD, is an author on a paper published in Pediatrics that examines the results of an intervention aimed at lowering the BMI of middle school students over a two-year period.