Bridging the gap between research and real life
When former Vice President Al Gore launched the movie An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 to explain the science behind climate change to the American public, surveys showed that many Americans didn’t believe in climate change, even though scientific data was building that humans actions were causing global warming. [Read more…]
Imagine that your cell phone battery died while you were out shopping and you needed to make a phone call urgently. Your only choice would be to approach strangers and ask if you could use their phone. The thought of asking for this kind of favor sends prickles up the spines of most people. [Read more…]
More than 90 percent of teenagers in the U.S. have a smartphone. Access to this type of technology and social networking changes the playing field for young people who are simultaneously developing a sense of identity and new social relationships. [Read more…]
An Asian female board member speaks up in a meeting about an important issue, only to be interrupted by her white male colleagues. A security guard follows a Black man around a store at the mall to make sure he doesn’t steal anything. A teacher compliments a Latino student on her English, even though she was raised in the U.S. with English as her first language. [Read more…]
When a doctor prescribes medicine, he gives a precise dose calculated to maximize the health benefits while minimizing any side effects. Similar to medicine, we know that exercise is good for our health; it reduces the risk of developing chronic disease and prolongs our life. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 8 percent of people in the U.S. over age 40 die as a result of too little exercise. [Read more…]
Imagine that you’re sitting in a coffee shop enjoying your drink and reading the paper when someone taps you on the shoulder. “Your jacket is beautiful,” the stranger says. “The color really complements your eyes.” [Read more…]
The past two school years have been extremely challenging – and even traumatic – for youth across the globe. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the vast majority of students throughout the U.S. to switch to virtual learning. Many suffered academically without in-person contact with their teachers and emotionally without contact with their peers. In addition, the pandemic was a traumatic event for many students, especially if their loved ones became ill or died, or family members’ work was impacted by pandemic shutdowns. [Read more…]
Talk to people who are middle-aged or older about body weight, and you’ll likely hear them complain about how their metabolism has slowed down. But our commonly held beliefs about metabolism – primarily, that it slows for older people and women – are likely completely wrong, according to a new groundbreaking study published in the journal Science this month. [Read more…]
Nearly 15 percent of people age 70 and older experience some form of dementia; that number jumps to nearly 35 percent for people over age 90. And yet other people live more than 100 years with sharp minds.
What helps some people protect their brain health well into the later years of life? That’s the question researchers from the Netherlands asked in a new, longitudinal study published in JAMA Network Open that examines mentally sharp 100-year-olds. [Read more…]
It’s well established that friendships are important influences on youth. Studies show that peers affect teens’ body image, physical activity levels, likelihood of smoking, and much more. A growing field of research demonstrates that the race and ethnicity of friends matter too.
For starters, there is a large body of evidence that shows that face-to-face interactions between members of different racial groups reduces prejudice. In other words, when you personally interact with someone from a different racial or ethnic group, you’re more likely to approach other people from that group with an open mind. [Read more…]
Opioid use has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data show the use of fentanyl and methamphetamine climbed steeply in 2020 and drug overdose deaths jumped by 18% last year.
The opioid epidemic has serious consequences for millions of Americans. Opioid misuse increases the risk of illness from COVID-19 and leads to long-term consequences for mental and physical health. People who misuse illegal substances are more likely to experience job loss, interpersonal violence, and become involved in criminal activity. [Read more…]
More than half of the world’s population is overweight or obese, a trend that is contributing to significant health problems in people across the globe. Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic health problems including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Encouraging people to lose weight is one solution, but the evidence shows that weight loss is difficult and rarely sustained. [Read more…]
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