MRC Epidemiology Unit
In this article originally published in The Conversation, Dr Tolullah Oni and Dr Camaren Peter discuss new research on the role that social media played in driving public engagement with Covid-19 health measures in Lagos, Nigeria, and lessons for responses to future crises. In times of crisis, it is especially crucial that governments share accurate, up […]
Unit researchers contribute to Lancet series highlighting need to improve physical activity worldwide
Researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit are among scientists from across the world contributing to The Lancet 2021 series on physical activity. Key findings revealed in the series include: Worldwide progress to improve physical activity has stalled; overall deaths associated with inactivity remain at more than 5 million people per year. No progress has been […]
Seven is the magic number: new global study identifies a threshold for gender equality in cycling
In many countries, including the UK, many fewer women than men cycle. Using data from 17 countries in six continents, a new study led by researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge has identified a threshold above which we start to see at least as many women cycling as men. For countries this […]
Global diet and health: Unit researchers Professor Nita Forouhi and Dr Nigel Unwin discuss fresh evidence from a huge global study
The Global Burden of Disease study, which tracked trends in consumption of 15 dietary factors from 1990 to 2017 in 195 countries, and is now published in The Lancet, finds that people in almost every region of the world could benefit from rebalancing their diets to eat optimal amounts of various foods and nutrients. The […]
Indian women confined to the home, in cities designed for men.
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 […]
Using Google Street View to estimate travel patterns in cities
A study published today in PLOS ONE indicates that Google Street View has the potential to estimate how common cycling is in cities, and potentially other travel patterns too. The analysis of 2,000 Google Street View images from 1,000 random locations in each of 34 cities in Great Britain found strong agreement with data on […]
Childhood obesity in South Africa – is it a problem?
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 […]
Going global – funding awarded for new Global Diet and Activity Research Group and Network (GDAR)
The MRC Epidemiology Unit has been awarded funding by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for a new international research partnership to help combat poor diet and physical inactivity in order to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. The Global Diet and Activity Research Group and Network (GDAR) will carry out research to help […]
Diet quality declines worldwide, but with major differences across regions
In a first-of-its-kind analysis of worldwide dietary patterns, a team including researchers from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge found overall diet quality worsened across the world over a 20-year period, even as consumption of healthier foods increased in […]