Rebecca Love, PhD student at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, writes in The Conversation about the lack of success in efforts to help children be more active at school. A third of children in the UK are overweight or obese by the time they reach primary school. Many other countries are facing the same issue, with […]

The Confidence Interval is a new, occasional podcast from the MRC Epidemiology Unit – talking science, people and public health. Listen on the University of Cambridge streaming service. Subscribe on iTunes Episode 1 – Dr Felix Day Unit Head of Communications Oliver Francis talks to Dr Felix Day in the Growth and Development programme at […]

This article by Sonja Klingberg, a PhD student in the Unit’s Behavioural Epidemiology programme, was shortlisted for the 2018 Max Perutz Science Writing Award. You can read all the shortlisted and winning articles here. “Our daughter doesn’t usually eat this for breakfast,” said the woman across the table from me. We were having breakfast together […]

Rahul Goel, a Research Associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, writes in The Conversation about how safer streets may help reduce inequality and improve the health of women in India. The inequality between men and women in India is stark, and nowhere more so than on the streets of its cities, which are undeniably the […]

Emma Clifton, University of Cambridge; Felix Day, University of Cambridge, and Ken Ong, University of Cambridge Those who take extreme risks often describe being drawn in by a feeling of compulsion. William Trubridge, a free-diving world record holder who regularly plunges his body hundreds of metres under water, simply explains “it beckons me beyond my […]

This article by Sonja Klingberg, a PhD student in the Unit’s Behavioural Epidemiology programme, was shortlisted for the 2017 Max Perutz Science Writing Award. You can read all the shortlisted and winning articles here. It’s mid-morning at a primary school in a South African township. The sun is almost at its highest point, and the […]

By Adina L Feldman, University of Cambridge It is well known that losing weight reduces your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Our latest research shows that maintaining the same weight as you age may also prevent diabetes, even in people who are moderately overweight. Type 2 diabetes is a global health problem that affects […]

By Eirini Trichia, University of Cambridge and Nita Forouhi, University of Cambridge A new study, published recently in the European Journal of Epidemiology, appeared to give dairy products a clean bill of health. The researchers found no evidence for an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or death from consuming dairy products – even full-fat dairy […]

Community weight loss programmes, such as Weight Watchers, are effective at helping people to lose weight, our latest research shows. We found that a three-month programme helps people lose weight, but a one-year programme helps people lose more weight for longer and reduces their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Wider availability of these programmes […]

By Adina L. Feldman, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge Type 2 diabetes is a global health issue affecting 414 million adults world-wide.1 Although the number of people being newly diagnosed with diabetes (the incidence) appears to be stabilising and perhaps even decreasing, the total number of people living with the disease (the prevalence) is […]