New research suggests that unhealthy food advertising on television before the 9pm watershed is responsible for 1 in 22 cases of childhood obesity. Removing these adverts before 9pm, the intention of new government regulation announced in July this year, has the potential to reduce the number of children with obesity by 40,000 and those with […]

The link between a specific genetic marker and severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been validated in this study by researchers from several institutions and organisations, including the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Perspectum and UK Biobank. This will help to better identify individuals at increased risk of more advanced forms of the disease. NAFLD […]

MRC Epidemiology Unit Director Nick Wareham has contributed to recent research that is being used to help the NHS offer greater support to those with diabetes. The research, published in in two papers in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology shows that people living with diabetes face a significantly higher risk of dying with COVID-19. A third […]

Cambridge University MPhil courses in epidemiology, public health and primary care are evolving in to a new MPhil in Population Health Sciences (PHS). This new course is jointly run by the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, and the MRC Biostatistics Unit (BSU), with contributions from colleagues across the University. The MPhil […]

Physical activity of any intensity is beneficial for health, but more intense activity has greater benefits, according to a new study published today in Nature Medicine. In the largest study to date of accelerometer-measured physical activity, a team led by MRC Epidemiology Unit researchers analysed data from more than 96,000 UK Biobank participants. Current physical […]

Participants in Cambridgeshire’s Fenland Study are being invited to join an innovative study that will use a home-administered blood sampling device to find out how many have evidence in their blood of previous COVID-19 infection. Many of these participants will also be eligible for a sub-study using a smartphone app. The Fenland COVID-19 Study, led […]

At least 3.9 million early deaths are being averted worldwide every year by people being physically active, according to a new study published in The Lancet Global Health today by researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. The team behind the study argue that too often we focus on the negative health consequences of […]

A study of over 300,000 commuters in England and Wales has found that those who walk, cycle and travel by train to work are at reduced risk of early death or illness compared with those who commute by car. The researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge say the findings suggest increased […]

Men and women aged 40-79 are at significantly lower (25-27%) risk of long or frequent hospital admissions if they do some form of physical activity, a new paper from the EPIC-Norfolk study suggests. Inactive participants in the study spent just over 4 days more in hospital over the next ten years than those who did […]