Winter 2011 Issue

Dr. Devra Davis (Ph.D., MPH) has been designated a National Book Award Finalist for her insights on the environmental link with illness in When Smoke Ran Like Water. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Davis lectures at Georgetown, Harvard and the London School of Hygiene. She has also served as the Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services. In 2007, she founded the Environmental Health Trust, an organization which strives to educate the public about manageable environmental risks and potential policy solutions to address those risks. Her latest book, DisConnect, discusses the impact cell-phone radiation has on our bodies and on our lives.

Priya Larson argues that companies have the right not to hire smokers and that doing so will creater a better working environment. Virginia Saurman counters, suggesting that this move could set a dangerous precedent.

Responding to growing concerns over the inhumanity of population control policies, especially in developing countries, the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) drafted the “Program of Action,” which recognized the right of women to exercise autonomy over their reproductive health. This global shift in development priorities has heavily influenced the reproductive healthcare system in Mexico. Its government-run Progresa-Oportunidades program – in which women receive money for family expenses if they attend regular health check-ups– has been praised by the international community for promoting individual freedom. At the same time, a recent anthropological study has found that indigenous Mexican women participating in the program feel pressured to adopt certain family planning methods. This contrast is the result of various social, ethno-cultural, economic and political factors. Ultimately, the key to creating and implementing healthcare programs that truly guarantee a woman’s autonomy is to alter the global top-down reproductive health paradigm.

Many Asian societies have become known for a notorious unwillingness to discuss sexual health, sexual education or gender equity in public. This has led to increasing personal and public health problems for many Asian and Asian-American people, including higher rates of abortion and elevated risk of cancer due to lack of early diagnosis, and conflicts with Western styles of medical treatment. However, a case study of Taiwan’s recent gender equity and sexual health education reforms reveals that conservative, traditional Asian societies may still be open to policy change that is influenced through such channels as Western media and increased Western immigration. It is likely that Taiwanese public policies have shifted toward liberalization due to growing interconnectivity with the Western world, providing a useful model for other Asian societies and for Western doctors through which to provide culturally-sensitive medicine.

An estimated 17 percent of children in the U.S. ages 2-19 years old are obese. In terms of Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of weight in relation to height, children with a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for others of the same age and sex are considered obese. The population of obese children in the U.S. can be categorized, albeit broadly, by age and geographical location. Moreover, further examination of the population of children who face obesity shows that there are significant disparities regarding race and ethnicity. Additional disparities among those who suffer can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic status. Childhood obesity is greatly influenced by genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors. While some genetic disorders are known to result in obesity, lack of physical activity and consumption of fatty foods are also known to have an affect on weight. Finally environmental factors, many of which can be categorized as social determinants of health, also influence obesity. Many outside agencies and university teams are researching various intervention programs in the hopes discovering the characteristics of those that are successful at reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity. Careful analysis of the peer-reviewed articles depicting their findings shows that the most successful interventions are age-specific. Amid younger children, family-based intervention programs that educate parents on the components of a healthy lifestyle are most effective. Meanwhile, school-based programs that promote physical activity are among the most successful forms of intervention with respect to older children.