A selection of the coverage our research has achieved in the news is below.
For all our latest news, visit www.cedar.iph.cam.ac.uk/news
Please direct any media enquiries to comms@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk / +44 (0)1223 769148 / 746892.
Jump to – 2020 – 2019 – 2018 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014
2021
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, according to new CEDAR-led research.
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 a ‘win-win’ for public health and industry.
Researchers analysed data from the Kantar Worldpanel, in which participating households are asked to record all food and drink purchases brought into the home. This included approximately 31 million purchases of drinks, confectionery and toiletries from March 2014 to March 2019. The researchers compared purchases in March 2019 against an estimate based on pre-existing trends of how the purchases would look had the levy not taken place at all.
- Read the full story
- Pell, D et al. Changes in British household purchases of soft drinks associated with implementation of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. BMJ; 11 Mar 2021; DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n254. www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n254
- This story was widely covered in in the media, including BBC Breakfast News (6 minutes in), BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (2hr 24 in), Mail Online, Independent, Sky News, Telegraph (£), The Times (£), The Grocer (£) – among over 300 other outlets.
2020
More evidence that walking or cycling to work associated with reduced risk of early death and illness
A new 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 CEDAR say the findings suggest increased walking and cycling post-lockdown may reduce deaths from heart disease and cancer.
The researchers found that, compared with those who drove, those who cycled to work had a 20 per cent reduced rate of early death, 24 per cent reduced rate of death from cardiovascular disease (which includes heart attack and stroke) during the study period, a 16 per cent reduced rate of death from cancer, and an 11 per cent reduced rate of a cancer diagnosis. Walking to work was associated with a 7 per cent reduced rate in cancer diagnosis, compared to driving.
- Read the full story
- Read a blogpost in The Conversation by study authors Dr Richard Patterson and Dr Anthony Laverty
- Paper: Patterson R, Panter J, Vamos EP, Cummins S, Millett C, Laverty AA. Associations between commute mode, cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality in England and Wales: a cohort study using linked Census data over 25 years. Lancet Planetary Health https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30079-6
- This study was reported by several National and International news outlets, including the Times, Daily Mail, iNews, ITV News Online, Evening Standard, Irish Examiner, Yahoo News and Outlook India.
Restricting unhealthy food advertising on TV could reduce number of overweight and obese children by 120,000
Research published in PLOS Medicine 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 overweight by a further 80,000.
The research also suggests that the policy will have a two-fold greater impact in children whose parents earn the least compared to those whose parents work in the highest paid jobs. This is because children living in the lowest earning households tend to watch more television and are more likely to have obesity than others.
- Read the full story
- Full paper: Mytton OT, Boyland E, Adams J, Collins B, O’Connell M, Russell SJ, et al. The potential health impact of restricting less-healthy food and beverage advertising on UK television between 05.30 and 21.00 hours: A modelling study. PLoS Med (2020) 17(10): e1003212.
- Lead author Oliver Mytton wrote in the Daily Telegraph about this research and implications for public policy: Time to take unhealthy options out of the spotlight – we need tough restrictions on junk food ads .The research was also covered in the Mail Online and The Sun.
Walking or cycling to work associated with reduced risk of early death and illness – May 2020
A study led by Dr Richard Patterson of our Public Health Interventions programme, and published in Lancet Planetary Health, has found that commuters who walk, cycle and travel by train to work are at reduced risk of early death or illness compared with those who travel by car.
The study used data from the UK Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England and Wales – a dataset that links data from several sources including the Census of England and Wales, and registrations of death and cancer diagnoses – to track the same people for up to 25 years, between 1991-2016.
They found that those who cycled had reductions of 20 per cent in the rate of early death, 24 per cent in death from cardiovascular disease, 16 per cent in death from cancer, and 11 per cent in cancer diagnosis during the study period.
The researchers commented that findings suggest increased walking and cycling post-lockdown may reduce deaths from heart disease and cancer.
- Read: Patterson R, Panter J, Vamos EP, Cummins S, Millett C, Laverty AA. Associations between commute mode, cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality in England and Wales: a cohort study using linked Census data over 25 years. Lancet Planetary Health (2020)
- Read the research news report
- Read the Conversation article by Richard Patterson and Anthony Laverty – Cycling and walking to work lowers risk of cancer, heart disease and death – new research
- This study was reported by several National and International news outlets, including the Times, Daily Mail, iNews, ITV News Online, Evening Standard, Irish Examiner, Yahoo News and Outlook India.
Men pose more risk to other road users than women – April 2020
Men pose more risk to other road users than women do and they are more likely to drive more dangerous vehicles, reveals the first study of its kind, published online in the journal Injury Prevention by scientists at the University of Westminster and University of Cambridge.
Rather than focus on an individual’s injury risk from their own use of a particular type of transport, the researchers examined the risk posed to other road users, using four sets of official data for England for the period 2005-15: police injury statistics (Stats19); Road Traffic Statistics; National Travel Survey data; and Office for National Statistics population/gender figures.
The researchers analysed the risks posed to other road users from bicycles, cars and taxis, vans, buses, lorries and motorbikes per billion vehicle kilometres travelled, and categorised by road type and gender.
Analysis of the data by gender showed that men posed a significantly higher risk to other road users for five of the six vehicle types studied. For cars and vans, the risk posed by male drivers was double that posed by women per km driven, rising to four times higher for lorry drivers, and more than 10 times higher for motorbike riders.
- Read the full story.
- Read Rachel Aldred, Rob Johnson, Chris Jackson, James Woodcock. How does mode of travel affect risks posed to other road users? An analysis of English road fatality data, incorporating gender and road type. Injury Prevention; 06 April 2020. DOI:10.1136/injuryprev-2019-043534
- Listen to the BMJ talk medicine podcast by Dr Rachel Aldred.
- The paper was reported by the Times, Telegraph, CNN, Sun, and Daily Mail, and about a dozen other online news outlets.
Sugar levels in UK soft drinks lowered following government levy – February 2020
Researchers have found that the UK government’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), introduced in April 2018 to help combat childhood obesity and related conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, has resulted in soft drinks manufacturers in the UK lowering the sugar levels in their drinks.
The SDIL applies to drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml, but not to fruit juice, milk-based drinks, alcoholic drinks, or drinks from companies with sales of less than 1m litres per year. The research, published in PLOS Medicine and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), found that by February 2019 very few eligible drinks, just 15%, were still liable for the levy. Prior to the announcement of the levy, 52% of eligible drinks were liable for the tax.
- Read the full story.
- Read Peter Scarborough et al. Impact of the announcement and implementation of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy on sugar content, price, product size and number of available soft drinks in the UK, 2015-19: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. PLOS Medicine; 11 February 2020; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003025
- The paper was reported by the Guardian, MedicalXpress, Yahoo News, Times (Print edition), and about ten other online news outlets, and was reported by BBC Look East on the morning of 13 February 2020.
Becoming less active and gaining weight: downsides of becoming an adult revealed in scientific reviews – January 2020
Two new papers published in Obesity Reviews by Dr Eleanor Winpenny and Dr Kirsten Corder at the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) at Cambridge and colleagues examined changes in physical activity, diet and body weight as young adults move from education into employment and to becoming a parent. To do this, they carried out systematic reviews and meta-analyses of existing scientific literature – these approaches allow them to compare and consolidate results from a number of often-contradictory studies to reach more robust conclusions.
In the first paper the team found that leaving high school was associated with a decrease of seven minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The decrease was larger for males than it was for females, and was largest when people go to university.
In the second paper they found that the difference in change in body mass index (BMI) between remaining without children and becoming a parent was 17%. this means that a woman of average height (164cm) who had no children gained around 7.5kg over five to six years, while a mother of the same height would gain an additional 1.3kg.
- Read the full story.
- Winpenny, E. et al. Changes in physical activity, diet and body weight across the education and employment transitions of early adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews; 19 Jan 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12962
- Corder, K. et al. Becoming a parent: a systematic review and meta-analysis of changes in BMI, diet and physical activity. Obesity Reviews; 19 Jan 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12959
- The paper was reported in the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Metro, Sky News, Hindustan Times, MedicalXpress and several other news outlets.
2019
Menu labelling linked to less fat and salt in food at major UK restaurant chains – October 2019
A new paper published in PLOS ONE by PhD student Dolly Theis and Dr Jean Adams of the Unit’s Population Health Interventions programme reports that food sold at restaurants whose menus display energy information are lower in fat and salt than that of their competitors. It’s possible that menu labelling encourages restaurants to change the content of their food, and also that those chains with ‘healthier’ offerings are more likely to label their menus.
he researchers looked at energy and nutritional information on the websites and on menus in restaurants of the most popular 100 UK restaurant chains during March and April 2018, finding that while 42 provided energy and nutritional information online only 13 provided menu labelling in stores. Items from restaurants with in-store menu labelling had on average 45% less fat and 60% less salt than items from other restaurants.
- Read the full story.
- Read the PLOS ONE paper ‘Differences in energy and nutritional content of menu items served by popular UK chain restaurants with versus without voluntary menu labelling: a cross-sectional study’ by Dolly Theis & Jean Adams. 16 Oct 2019.
- Read the Conversation article by Dolly Theis: Some countries already have mandatory nutritional labelling on menus – here’s why the UK should follow suit.
- The paper was reported in the Times, where it was accompanied by a very favourable editorial that included the statement “There is nothing nannyish about encouraging people to make informed choices for themselves & their children”. The paper was also reported by the Daily Mail, Metro and the i newspaper, as well as several specialist news outlets including The Caterer and Food Navigator.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds and certain ethnic minorities do less vigorous physical activity – May 2019
A paper published in BMJ Open by CEDAR researchers reports that children from disadvantaged backgrounds and certain ethnic minority backgrounds, including from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, have lower levels of vigorous physical activity.
The researchers studied data from almost 5,200 children aged 7 years who were part of the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of children born in the UK between September 2000 and January 2002. The children were given accelerometers and their activity measured for a minimum of ten hours for three days.
- Read the full story.
- Read the BMJ Open paper Socioeconomic and ethnic differences in children’s vigorous intensity physical activity: a cross-sectional analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study by Rebecca Love, et al.
- The paper was reported in the Sun, Scotsman, Business Standard, Science Daily, and several other online news outlets.
2018
Removing sweets and crisps from supermarket checkouts linked to dramatic fall in unhealthy snack purchases – December 2018
On 18 December 2018, a team of researchers led by Dr Katrine Ejlerskov and Dr Jean Adams published a paper in PLOS Medicine which suggests that policies aimed at removing sweets and crisps from checkouts could lead to a dramatic reduction in the amount of unhealthy food purchased to eat ‘on the go’ and a significant reduction in that purchased to take home.
The research team used data from more than 30,000 UK households who recorded all the food they bought and brought home during 2013–2017 to assess the impact that the introduction of policies by major supermarket chains to remove or limit unhealthy foods checkout food has had on shoppers’ purchasing habits.
They found that 76% fewer purchases of sugary confectionary, chocolate and potato crisps were bought and eaten ‘on-the-go’ from supermarkets with checkout food policies compared to those without. In addition, 17% fewer small packages of these items were bought and taken home from supermarkets immediately after introducing a checkout food policy.
- Read the full story.
- Read the PLOS Medicine paper “Supermarket policies on less-healthy food at checkouts: Natural experimental evaluation using interrupted time series analyses of purchases“
- The paper was reported by several news outlets including the BBC News, Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, Independent, Daily Telegraph and Metro, ITV online and Dr Jean Adams was interviewed by ITV Anglia News and LBC.
Expert comment to BBC on continuing rise in fast food outlets in UK High Streets – October 2018
In October 2018, Dr Tom Burgoine was interviewed by BBC Look East on the rise in fast food outlets in UK High Streets.
Dr Burgoine also provided comment for a BBC News Online item, and was subsequently quoted in articles in the Daily Mail, Grimsby Live, Lynn News and several other local news outlets.
Expert reaction to new study on sleep, exercise, recreational screen time use and cognition in children – September 2018
In September 2018, Dr Kirsten Corder provided expert commentary to the Science Media Centre on a new study published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health on the associations between sleep, exercise, recreational screen time use and cognition in children.
In her comment Dr Corder said:
“Importantly, this study confirms that physical activity is not harmful to cognition and emphasises its importance for physical health. The guidelines used here broadly align with British recommendations, where an average of an hour a day of activity is suggested for children.”
- Read Dr Corder’s full comment to the Science Media Centre.
- Read the The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health paper.
- Dr Corder was interviewed live by the BBC World Service on 27 September 2018, and quoted in articles on BBC News Online, CNN, and several other news outlets.
Finding alternatives to the car for travel could lower risk of illness and death – May 2018
A paper in the journal Heart, published on 21 May 2018 by Dr Jenna Panter and colleagues at the Unit and CEDAR, found that people who are more active when commuting to work by walking or cycling could be cutting their relative risk of developing ischaemic heart disease or stroke by 11%, and their relative risk of dying from these diseases by 30%. They used data on 358,799 participants in the UK Biobank.
- Read the Heart paper ‘Using alternatives to the car and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality’.
- Read The Conversation article by Dr Jenna Panter and Dr Oliver Mytton.
- This paper was covered by The Times, Independent, Express, Sun and more than twenty other news outlets, and the Conversation article was republished by Metro and iNews.
Using Google Street View to estimate travel patterns in cities – May 2018
On 2 May 2018, researchers led by Dr Rahul Goel and Dr James Woodcock published a paper in PLOS ONE indicating that Google Street View has the potential to estimate how common cycling is in cities, and potentially other travel patterns too.
Their 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 cycling, and public transport and motorbike use from the 2011 census and annual Active People Survey.
- Read the full story
- Read the PLOS ONE paper.
- This paper was reported in Futurism, Architecture and Design, The Indian Express, Business Standard, Gadgets Now and several other online news outlets.
BBC One: The Truth About…Obesity – April 2018
Dr Tom Burgoine was interviewed on the BBC One programme ‘The Truth About…Obesity’ which aired on Thursday 26 April 2018, where he discussed the impact of our food environment, and in particular fast food outlets, on how we eat and the obesity crisis. .
- ‘The Truth About…Obesity’ on BBC iPlayer (Not currently available to watch)
- Access the Food Environment Assessment Tool (FEAT) developed by Dr Burgoine and colleagues to allow users to map, measure and monitor access to food outlets at a neighbourhood level, including changes over time
2017
Children in poor areas exposed to five times as many fast food takeaways – December 2017
An analysis by the Guardian using data provided by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) and Ordnance Survey has revealed that pupils attending school in the most deprived areas are exposed to five times as many fast food outlets as those in the wealthiest areas. Previous research by Dr Tom Burgoine and colleagues at CEDAR found that a higher exposure to fast food outlets was associated with a higher risk of obesity.
- Children in poor areas exposed to five times as many fast food takeaways – Guardian article
- Fast food nation: do more takeaways near schools affect younger pupils’ diets? -Guardian article
Dr Burgoine was also quoted in a BBC Reality check article on the analysis, and the story was also reported in Quartz.
The Guardian covered the launch of the Food environment assessment tool (Feat) in July 2017 (see below), and has compiled their coverage of takeaway food at www.theguardian.com/inequality/series/fast-food-uk
Guardian highlights new Food environment assessment tool (Feat) – July 2017
In July 2017, CEDAR launched the Food environment assessment tool (Feat). This new resource is underpinned by the latest scientific evidence about how food access in our neighbourhoods affects our dietary choices, body weight and health. It allows for detailed exploration of the geography of food retail access across England. It allows you to map, measure and monitor access to food outlets at a neighbourhood level, including changes over time. It is designed around the needs of professionals in public health, environmental health and planning roles, locally and nationally.
- Access Feat at www.feat-tool.org.uk
We worked with The Guardian newspaper as part of the Feat launch. The paper covered it from a number of angles:
- Large rise in takeaway shops highlights dominance of fast food in deprived areas (front page of the print edition)
- Fast food England: how many takeaways are near you? (Interactive visualisation using Feat)
- Does putting a cap on takeaways improve people’s health?
- Survey: are you worried about the food options available in your area?
The paper has compiled more of their coverage of takeaway food at www.theguardian.com/inequality/series/fast-food-uk
A number of other national and local outlets picked up the story. Feat was covered in the Mirror and International Business Times, and over the following week several local newspapers around England published articles on the growth of takeaway numbers in their area. Dr Tom Burgoine, who led development of Feat, was interviewed by several radio stations including Radio 5 Live.
A new leash of life: dog walking could be key to ensuring activity in later life – July 2017
Regularly walking a dog boosts levels of physical activity in older people, especially during the winter. Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the study used data from the EPIC Norfolk cohort study, which is tracking the health and wellbeing of thousands of residents of the English county of Norfolk. The researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and CEDAR found that owning or walking a dog was one of the most effective ways to beat the usual decline in later-life activity, even combatting the effects of bad weather. Dog owners were sedentary for 30 minutes less per day, on average.
- Fetch more on the story here
- Paper: Yu-Tzu Wu, Robert Luben, Andy Jones. Dog ownership supports the maintenance of physical activity during poor weather in older English adults: cross-sectional results from the EPIC Norfolk cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
National coverage of this story included the Daily Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail, the Sun, and the Daily Express, with lots of local and regional coverage across the country. Internationally, it pricked up the ears of Sky News Australia, Times of India, and Irish Times among many others. Prof Andy Jones also did a pack of interviews (14 in fact) with BBC local radio stations, as well as ITV Anglia.
2016
Neighbourhoods with more takeaways amplify social inequalities in unhealthy eating – May 2016
People who live or work near to a greater number of takeaway outlets are more likely to eat more takeaway food and to be overweight; but new research from CEDAR indicates that neighbourhoods saturated with fast food outlets may be particularly unhealthy for people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. The study suggests that policies to improve the food environment in towns and cities could be helpful in tackling social inequalities in diet and health.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Burgoine, T et al. Does neighborhood fast-food outlet exposure amplify inequalities in diet and obesity? A cross-sectional study. Am J Clin Nutr; 11 May 2016; DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.115.128132.
- Read a blog post on The Conversation by research authors Dr Tom Burgoine and Dr Pablo Monsivais. This research also featured on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, the Daily Express, and Western Daily Press.
Walking and cycling good for health even in cities with higher levels of air pollution – May 2016
The health benefits of walking and cycling outweigh the negative effects on health of air pollution, even in cities with higher levels of air pollution, according to a new study led by CEDAR researchers. This new evidence strengthens the case for supporting cycling even in polluted cities – an effort that in turn can help reduce vehicle emissions.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Marko Tainio et al. Can air pollution negate the health benefits of cycling and walking? Preventive Medicine; 5 May 2016. DOI 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.02.002
- This research received widespread media coverage, including the national BBC TV News, Radio 5 Live, BBC online, Sky News, Guardian, Times (£), Buzzfeed, Daily Mail, BBC World Service, Washington Post and many outlets around the country and world including Chile’s La Tercera, Kenya’s KBC1, South China Morning post, BBC Persian radio and Yle Finnish Radio to name just a few.
2015
Cambridgeshire guided busway encouraging people to be more active on the commute – November 2015
The bus might seem like a natural enemy of the vulnerable cyclist. But in Cambridgeshire, a ‘guided busway’ is encouraging more cycling and helping commuters to become more active on their way to work. This is according to a new study from the University of Cambridge, funded by the National Institute for Health Research and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
- Read the full story
- Paper: The impact of new transport infrastructure on walking, cycling and physical activity. Jenna Panter, Eva Heinen, Roger Mackett and David Ogilvie. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.09.021
- Read Dr Jenna Panter’s blog post about the research
- This story received coverage in Cambridge News, ITV news online, and BikeBiz
Agricultural policy reforms may increase sugar consumption and harm public health – October 2015
The liberalisation of the sugar market in the EU may increase sugar consumption, particularly among the lowest socioeconomic groups, and damage public health across Europe and beyond, warn CEDAR researchers at the University of Cambridge, writing in The BMJ.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Liberalising agricultural policy for sugar in Europe risks damaging public health. Emilie Aguirre et al, BMJ, October 2015. DOI 10.1136/bmj.h5085 www.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmj.h5085
- Read the associated Evidence Brief: EU Common Agricultural Policy Sugar Reforms Implications for Public Health
- Media coverage included the Daily Mail, Guardian and Independent.
TV, internet and computer games associated with poorer GCSE grades – September 2015
Each hour per day spent watching TV, using the internet or playing computer games during Year 10 is associated with poorer grades at GCSE at age 16 according to new CEDAR research. In a study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, researchers also found that pupils doing an extra hour of daily homework and reading performed significantly better than their peers. However, the level of physical activity had no effect on academic performance.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Revising on the run or studying on the sofa: Prospective associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and exam results in British adolescents. Kirsten Corder et al, IJBNPA.
- Kirsten’s blog about the study in The Conversation.
- Widespread media coverage, including BBC News, Daily Mail, Independent, Times (£), Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Express and NHS Choices Behind the Headlines among many others. Lead author Kirsten Corder was interviewed on The Today Programme (43.00 and a related discussion at 02.55.00), as well as talking to national BBC and ITV news and a dozen local radio stations across the UK.
The rise of the takeaway: Number of takeaways in deprived areas increases substantially over two decades – April 2015
The number of takeaway food outlets has risen substantially over the past two decades, with a large increase seen in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage, according to a study carried out across Norfolk by researchers at CEDAR. This follows research from 2014 that showed that people who lived and worked near a high number of takeaway outlets tended to eat more takeaway food and were more likely to be obese than those less exposed.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Area deprivation and the food environment over time: a repeated cross-sectional study on takeaway outlet density and supermarket presence in Norfolk, UK, 1990 – 2008. Eva Maguire, Thomas Burgoine, Pablo Monsivais, Health & Place.
- Media coverage included The Times (£), Daily Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Daily Express, Daily Mail, ITV News, Radio 5 Live and a number of regional Radio stations, among others.
Group walking cuts risk of life-threatening conditions – January 2015
- Risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, depression and other life-threatening conditions can be reduced through regular outdoor walking in groups, according to research from the University of East Anglia (UEA), supported by CEDAR. This research follows recent findings from the MRC Epidemiology Unit, another of the partners in CEDAR, that lack of exercise may be responsible for twice as many deaths as obesity, and a brisk 20 minute walk each day could be enough to reduce risk of early death.
- Read the full story
- Paper: Is there evidence that walking groups have health benefits? A systematic review and meta-analysis, Sarah Hanson, Andy Jones. British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Media coverage included the Daily Mail, Cambridge News, and Reuters.
2014
Price gap between more and less healthy foods grows – October 2014
A study, published in the journal PLOS One, tracked the price of 94 key food and beverage items from 2002 to 2012. Its findings show that more healthy foods were consistently more expensive than less healthy foods, and have risen more sharply in price over time.
- Read the full story
- Paper: The Growing Price Gap between More and Less Healthy Foods: Analysis of a Novel Longitudinal UK Dataset by Nicholas Jones, Annalijn Conklin, Marc Suhrcke, Pablo Monsivais
- Media coverage included Channel 4 News, The Daily Telegraph, The Times (£), The Daily Mail, The Independent, The Scotsman, NHS Choices Behind the Headlines, Huffington Post, Newsweek, LBC Radio, BBC World Service and a number of regional BBC Radio stations.
Walking, cycling and public transport beat the car for wellbeing – September 2014
Walking or cycling to work is better for people’s mental health than driving to work, according to research by health economists at the University of East Anglia and CEDAR
- Read the full story
- Paper: Does active commuting improve psychological wellbeing? Longitudinal evidence from eighteen waves of the British Household Panel Survey by Adam Martin, Yevgeniy Goryakin, Marc Suhrcke
- Media coverage included BBC News, with an interview with Adam Martin here, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, Daily Mail, The Scotsman, a comment piece by Lauren Laverne in the Guardian, the NICE news section, and Fox News.
High-quality traffic-free routes encourage more walking and cycling – July 2014
The provision of new, high-quality, traffic-free cycling and walking routes in local communities has encouraged more people to get about by foot and by bike, according to a new study involving CEDAR researchers published in the American Journal of Public Health.
- Read the full story
- Paper New walking and cycling routes and increased physical activity: one- and two-year findings from the UK iConnect study, by Anna Goodman, Shannon Sahlqvist and David Ogilvie, American Journal of Public Health
- Media coverage included Mail Online, Road CC, and Medical Xpress.
When mothers are active so are their children – but many mothers aren’t – March 2014
A study of physical activity patterns of women and their four-year-olds reveals a strong association between the two. It also shows that only 53% of mothers engaged in 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity at least once a week. Taken together, these results highlight valuable avenues for intervention strategies.
- Read the full story here
- Paper: Activity levels in mothers and their preschool children Pediatrics 2013-3153
- Media coverage included BBC News, CBS News, Times of India, NPR, New York Daily News, and others.
Takeaway exposure associated with increased consumption and obesity – March 2014
People who live and work near a high number of takeaway food outlets tend to eat more of these foods and are more likely to be obese than those less exposed. The first UK study to combine home, work and commuting environments of 5,442 adults found that those most exposed to takeaway outlets were almost twice as likely to be obese than those who encountered the fewest outlets.
- Read the full story here
- Paper: Associations between exposure to takeaway food outlets, takeaway food consumption, and body weight in Cambridgeshire, UK: population based, cross sectional study BMJ 2014;348:g1464
- Media coverage included BBC News, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Daily Mail, Huffington Post, Cambridge News, the Naked Scientists podcast and many others.
Boris bikes: health benefits outweigh risks from injury and pollution – February 2014
The London cycle hire scheme has had a positive overall effect on the health of its users by increasing physical activity within the capital. These benefits outweigh the negative impacts from injuries and exposure to air pollution, according to the results of a large-scale modelling study published in the BMJ by CEDAR, LSHTM and UCL researchers.
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Paper: Health effects of the London bicycle sharing system: health impact modelling study. BMJ, 2014;348
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Media coverage included BBC News, the Guardian, Metro, LBC, MSN News, London24, and The Londonist.
Lead author on the BMJ paper Dr James Woodcock also contributed to the British Cycling plan to transform Britain into a true cycling nation, which was covered by a range of media including The Times, ITV, the Guardian and Cambridge News.James also contributed to the BBC Radio 4 Programme Right of Way: Cycling and the City in which he talked about how the population health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks.
Children living close to fast food outlets more likely to be overweight – February 2014
Children living in areas surrounded by fast food outlets are more likely to be overweight or obese according to new research from the University of East Anglia and CEDAR.
- Read the full story here.
- Paper: Understanding the relationship between food environments, deprivation and childhood overweight and obesity: Evidence from a cross sectional England-wide study. Health & Place 2014.01.007
- Media coverage included ITV News, Times of India, HEART Radio, SKY News Radio, CBS Radio (USA), and Radio Norfolk.
The rise of the takeaway: Number of takeaway outlets in deprived areas increases substantially over two decades