Public Health Practice | The Pump Handle

Education Study: Self-affirmation targets the brain in way that makes us receptive to health messaging

February 6, 2015 Kim Krisberg 5Comment

It’s a persistent conundrum in the field of public health — how can we open people’s minds to positively receiving and acting on health information? Previous research has found that combining health tips with messages of self-affirmation may be a particularly effective strategy, but researchers weren’t entirely sure how self-affirmation worked at the neurological level. Now, a new study has found that self-affirmation’s effects on a particular region of the brain may be a major key to behavior change.

Public Health Practice Worth reading: Measles, heroin, and unsafe chicken

February 4, 2015 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Recent pieces address the toll of measles; evidence vs. hype in treating heroin addiction; why foodborne-illness outbreaks linked to poultry keep happening; and more.

Food Safety & Nutrition Researchers map a policy route toward huge reductions in U.S. childhood poverty

February 3, 2015 Kim Krisberg

If national lawmakers took action on less than a dozen policy fronts, they could reduce child poverty in the U.S. by a whopping 60 percent. In sheer numbers, such a reduction would lift 6.6 million children out of poverty and significantly improve their opportunities for living long and fruitful lives.

California What’s at stake in TSCA reform

February 2, 2015 Elizabeth Grossman

Introduction of a new TSCA reform bill is expected some time this spring. In the meantime, The Pump Handle takes a look at what’s at stake in TSCA reform and why the outcome matters to those who care about protecting and improving occupational and public health.

Environmental Health Study: Building walkable communities can change behavior for the better

January 30, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

It’s not unusual for studies on community walkability to face the perplexing question of self-selection. In other words, people who already like to walk end up moving to walkable communities and so those communities naturally have higher physical activity rates. In even simpler terms, it’s about the person, not the environment. However, a new study finds that walkable community design does influence healthy behavior — even among people with no preference for walking in the first place.

Agriculture Occupational Health News Roundup

January 28, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Exploring the Uberization of work; big retailers fight new OSHA injury reporting rule; Congress members introduce paid leave for federal workers; and John Boehner inadvertently makes the case for a minimum wage increase.

Government Child poverty remains high, with nearly 32 million American kids living in low-income families

January 23, 2015 Kim Krisberg 2Comment

Rarely do poverty and optimal health go together. In fact, income is consistently tapped as a major factor underpinning a person’s opportunity to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, children don’t fare much better, with low-income children facing increased risks of poor health and development. So, just how many American children face this challenge today? Four out of every 10.

Environmental Health New fracking study finds link between proximity to gas wells, negative health symptoms

January 21, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

As more research is emerging on the potential health effects of fracking, a new study — perhaps the largest to date of its kind — has found that people living near natural gas wells may be at increased risk for adverse health impacts, including skin and respiratory conditions.

California U.S. workers remain at risk from potentially deadly paint-removers

January 20, 2015 Elizabeth Grossman 4Comment

If you’re in the market for a paint remover and head to your local hardware store, most of the products you’re likely to find will contain methylene chloride. These products carry hazard warnings that say “Danger!” and “Poison” along with cautionary statements about the chemical’s nervous system effects and the possibility that exposure can cause blindness, birth defects, cancer and respiratory harm. But there’s little – if anything – to suggest such products are so hazardous that they were responsible for at least 14 deaths in the United States between 2000 and 2011. These products are banned in the EU. Are there alternatives and why are they still for sale in the U.S.?

APHA Annual Meeting Local New Jersey officials integrate worker safety into restaurant inspections; collect new insights on occupational risks

January 16, 2015 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

Food safety is at the top of the list for local restaurant inspectors in Rockaway Township, New Jersey. Recently, however, inspectors tested out the feasibility of adding a new safety checkpoint to the menu — the safety of restaurant employees. The effort was a success and one that organizers hope will ultimately lead to safer working conditions for food service workers statewide.