Why are middle-aged white Americans dying faster than others?

Figure-2-690x320The best findings in science aren’t the ones that make you go “cool!” they’re the ones that make you go “huh?” A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported a strange and unexpected

Mapping obesity and poverty in the United States

  More than one in three adults in America are obese (1). The prevalence of obesity grew dramatically throughout the 1990s, and has slowly levelled off over the early 2000s. Obesity is one of the biggest and most controversial public … Continue reading »

The post Mapping obesity and poverty in the United States appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Everything you need to know about social determinants of health you can learn from IKEA

It’s that time of year again. Summer is ending, undergrads are flooding university campuses, and people are moving. When people move, a few things become mandatory, for example, pizza or some other reward for those who help you move. But … Continue reading »

The post Everything you need to know about social determinants of health you can learn from IKEA appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

The Narrative of Privilege

Today we welcome Luckett to the blog. Her biography is at the end of the post. ‘Miss,’ she said, as I bit my tongue. I was choking on the worst insult a female junior doctor can bear, ‘I know that crystal … Continue reading »

The post The Narrative of Privilege appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

The impact of Obamacare, one year on

I used to bike to work every day in grad school. I lived around 2km away from the hospital I was based at (~ 1.24 miles), so biking was just the most efficient way to get to work every morning. … Continue reading »

The post The impact of Obamacare, one year on appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Using Video Games to Model Real Life Outbreaks

Those of you who know me know that I’m a video game nerd. And comic book nerd. And just nerdy nerd in general. So when I read an article that used World of Warcraft to model disease outbreaks, I jumped … Continue reading »

The post Using Video Games to Model Real Life Outbreaks appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Who is public health?

Ed Note: Please welcome Jessica Berthold and Sarah Mittermaier to the blog today. Jessica Berthold is communications manager, and Sarah Mittermaier is communications specialist, of Prevention Institute (website, twitter), a national nonprofit based in Oakland that works to improve health … Continue reading »

The post Who is public health? appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Black lives must matter more in health research

Anyone who thinks America is a ‘post-racial’ society is delusional. ‘Post-racial’ is political discourse that aims to deny any presence of racism or racial inequality in modern society. Racism is visible everyday. From visible neighbourhood segregation to everyday instances of … Continue reading »

The post Black lives must matter more in health research appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Immigrant youth to Canada are less active than Canadians, but only for a little bit

Regular readers of the blog and my Twitter profile will know that my PhD dissertation is focused on the health of young people to Canada. In particular, I’m interested in how their health changes over time – does it get …

The post Immigrant youth to Canada are less active than Canadians, but only for a little bit appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.

Going to #CPHA2014

Next week, I (Atif) will be heading to the Canadian Public Health Association Conference, where I’ll be presenting at two different points.

I’ll be chairing a session titled “Youth Injury Prevention in Canada – Where should we direct

The post Going to #CPHA2014 appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.