Here on campus, many of us have spent the past few weeks cramming. Cramming for an epidemiology final. Cramming one more get-together with friends on an impossibly full calendar. Maybe cramming one more piece of turkey onto a plate piled high with holiday food. We missed a lot of things during these past few weeks […]
Category: Blog
University of Minnesota Healthy Generations
World AIDS Day 2010
Today is World AIDS Day 2010 and the U.S. is joining more than 200 countries around the globe to call attention to the worldwide epidemic. Roughly 33 million people are estimated to be living with HIV or AIDS around the globe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 56,300 new HIV cases […]
Becoming a data detective: some advice from David McCandless
Looking for the perfect gift for the epidemiologist in your life? Self-described “data journalist” David McCandless hopes you’ll consider his book, “The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most Consequential Trivia,” now available in stores. Based on data he’s gathered from varied sources as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the European Environment […]
You’re getting your flu shot… Right?
With flu season upon us, Adam Ruban’s piece for NPR hit a nerve for this reader. As Ruban notes, “tens of millions” of expired H1N1 vaccine were destroyed this past summer — meaning that millions of Americans decided to forgo vaccination and take their chances with a potentially deadly flu strand. According to the CDC, […]
Greetings from the other side: a recent grad discusses the future
After five years of taking classes part-time, I recently completed my MPH in Maternal and Child Health. What began as the profound personal experience of giving birth to my eldest son ten years ago became a career path. I became involved in the local birth community, becoming a volunteer doula and certified breastfeeding educator. I […]
September 27, 2010: National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
This coming Monday, September 27 marks the third annual National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Sponsored by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), the National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is meant to refocus attention on the HIV/AIDS crisis among this community. Men who have sex with men are still disproportionately affected by […]
Increasing poverty, decreasing health coverage: new Census Report findings
The recently released (9/16/2010) 2009 Census Report found striking evidence of our ongoing Great Recession: An increase in the nation’s poverty rate to 14.3% — according to the press release, “the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004” and the highest percentage of total poverty since 1994. That’s 44 million individuals, […]
Public health in Alaska: some thoughts
Greetings, MCH readers! Laura Andersen here, a master’s student at the University of Minnesota’s Maternal and Child Health program. I’m writing you from Alaska, where I am currently about halfway through one of the most interesting internships I’ve ever held – at the State of Alaska’s Section of Women’s, Children’s, and Family Health. Alaska is […]
New Publication: Health of Military Families
Hot off the presses! The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health at the University of Minnesota is very pleased to announce the release of the summer 2010 issue of Healthy Generations on the Health of Military Families. Electronic of this (high resolution) issue and past issues are available to download at: […]
AHRQ profiles Aqui para Ti
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently profiled Minneapolis-based healthcare clinic Aqui para Ti as part of their “Innovations Exchange” feature online. Aqui para Ti (“Here for you”) has provided a full range of services to Latino adolescents and their families–including medical care, health education, and referrals–since 2002. As AHRQ notes, a 2009 […]
When is a chubby baby TOO chubby?
Posted by Clarence Jones Chubby Babies? Isn’t anything sacred? As a lifelong, card carrying member of the “Chubby Baby” club, I was recently surprised by the results of a new study published in February 2010 in the journal Clinical Pediatrics entitled “Identifying the “Tipping Point” Age for Overweight Pediatric Patients” that found over half of […]
Maternal deaths on the decline?
New research published in the Lancet (April 2010) shows a sharp decrease in maternal deaths for the first time in decades: from 525,300 maternal deaths in 1980, to 342,900 in 2008. As the New York Times reported last week, the news came as a surprise to many maternal health advocates—who assumed data would be similar […]
Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Unnatural Causes – Free screening at UMN April 29, 2010
FACT: The average U.S. life expectancy, at 78.2 years, remains far below that of other developed nations. FACT: Even after adjusting for behaviors and access to health care, middle-class Americans live an average of three fewer years than their upper-class counterparts. FACT: African Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders have consistently poorer health outcomes than […]
Food Revolution
The United States is dealing with an obesity crisis. For the first time, the current generation of children in the United States is not expected to live as long as their parents. Alarming statistics such as these has prompted Jamie Oliver, chef, author, and television personality from the United Kingdom, to take America by storm […]
Child Nutrition Act cut in half
Not much of a surprise for those of us who’ve been watching this bill — last week, the Senate voted to cut President Obama’s proposed budget for the School Nutrition Act in half, from $10 billion to $4.5 billion. $4.5 billion sounds like a lot, just like $10 billion sounds like a lot, so let’s […]