MRC Epidemiology Unit
The introduction of the soft drinks industry levy – the ‘sugary drinks tax’ – in England was followed by a drop in the number of cases of obesity among older primary school children, according to Cambridge researchers. Taking into account current trends in obesity, their estimates suggest that around 5,000 cases of obesity per year […]
Breaking the decades-long cycle of failed obesity policy – Max Perutz Science Writing Award 2022
This article by Dr Dolly Theis, then a PhD student with the Unit’s Population Health Interventions programme, was shortlisted for the 2022 Max Perutz Science Writing Award. You can read all ten shortlisted and winning articles here. It’s April 2020. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just left hospital where he was in intensive care […]
Transport for London’s junk food advertising ban linked to reduced purchases of high fat, salt and sugar products
A study published in PLOS Medicine found that restricting the outdoor advertising of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods and drinks across the Transport for London (TfL) network significantly decreased the average amount of calories purchased by households every week from these products. Led by scientists at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical […]
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 […]
Unit researchers contribute to latest Food Foundation Broken Plate report
Researchers from CEDAR at the MRC Epidemiology Unit have, for the third year in a row, contributed to the Food Foundation’s annual Broken Plate report. Each year the report tracks progress against 10 metrics that illustrate the health of our food system. This year’s report demonstrates that the food environment is skewed towards less healthy […]
Things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD… part 2
This blog, from members of the Population Health Interventions Programme originally appeared on the Fuse Open Science Blog. This is Part 2 of our PhD SURVIVAL GUIDE. In Part 1 we found out that doing a PhD (or any research) is challenging but the ‘this might be okay’ stage always comes; continuously comparing your work, […]
Things I wish I’d known when I started my PhD… part 1
This blog, from members of the Population Health Interventions Programme originally appeared on the Fuse Open Science Blog. By three methods we might learn wisdom: first by reflection, which is noblest; second by imitation, which is easiest; third by experience, which is the bitterest.” – Confucius Like most research groups, ours comprises an ever-changing cast […]
Study finds almost 1 million extra deaths in 29 high income countries in 2020 during Covid-19 pandemic
An international collaboration, led by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford, including Professor Martin White of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, has calculated that approximately one million excess deaths occurred in 2020 across 29 high income countries. The results are published today in the BMJ. Assessing the coronavirus pandemic’s […]
Sugar purchased in soft drinks fell 10% following introduction of industry levy
The amount of sugar purchased by households through soft drinks fell by 10% in the year following the introduction of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy. While the volume of soft drinks purchased did not change, the amount of sugar in those drinks was 30g lower per household per week, which the researchers say represents […]
English obesity policies have long been unfit for purpose, but they are improving
In this article for The Conversation, Unit and CEDAR PhD student Dolly Theis discusses new insights into why successive government’s obesity policies in England over the past three decades have largely failed. In England, 63% of men and women live with obesity or are overweight. Although the government has recognised obesity to be a significant […]
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