Monthly Archive for May, 2011

The Ongoing Debate of Rural Vs. Urban

Published on May 29, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Large agricultural firms have enough influence in the food industry to squeeze out smaller farmers by not offering fair prices for their products.

By Rich Bindell From food&waterwatch

Over the past few weeks, as we’ve been preparing for our Sowing the Seeds events, some interesting discussions have been brewing about city mice vs. country mice and how they relate to agricultural subsidies. We think this issue will be a hot topic in the months to come and understanding it is critical to the success of the next Farm Bill, so we wanted to add our two cents to the discussion, as well.

It began with Washington Post writer Ezra Klein’s blog post, “Why We Still Need Cities,” which included a brash comment about subsidies. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack wasn’t happy with Klein’s comments about rural life, so he requested a chance to respond. A second post followed in the form of a Klein interview with Vilsack where the Ag chief defends the culture of rural life and its denizens’ contributions to the nation. Our thoughts on their exchange? Klein: wrong; Vilsack: wrong. They both seemed to talk around the real issue. Monica Potts from American Prospect and Grist’s Tom Philpott both have a similar opinion.

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GLOBAL: Internationalisation and Medical Education

Published on May 23, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photograph By: photostock

By Madalena Patricio from University World News

Internationalisation has become an important force in higher education. It is also a powerful challenge and opportunity for medical schools.

Under the ‘traditional approach’ teachers and medical students confined themselves to a local curriculum developed in their own countries. Nowadays medical education has become far more internationalised. Medical schools are emphasising an international approach that implies mobility of teachers and students and the implementation of a curriculum that builds on exchanges between two or more countries.

In this context, not only are students moving away from the country where they are receiving their medical qualification but teachers are internationalising as well. They go to international meetings, which help inform the medical curriculum with the most advanced knowledge – teachers are seeing and learning from more progressive institutions all the time, wherever those institutions are in the world.

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How Obesity Spreads in Social Networks

Published on May 17, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Image By: digitalart

By Katherine Harmon from Scientific America

The people we associate with can have a powerful effect on our behavior—for better or for worse. This holds true for human health and body mass, too. The heavier our close friends and family, the heavier we are likely to be.

This correlation, described in 2007 by a team that analyzed data from the longitudinal Framingham Heart Study, is well established. But just how this transpires—whether via shared norms, common behavior or just similar environments—has been the subject of much debate.

The authors of the 2007 study proposed that social norms shared among friends and relatives might be a strong determinant of body mass index (BMI). And a new study, published online May 5 in the American Journal of Public Health, drills down to see just how these social forces might be at work. The study of more than 100 women—and hundreds of their friends and family members—however, suggests that social attitudes might not be key in determining obesity clusters after all.

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Mother’s Diet During Pregnancy Alters Baby’s DNA

Published on May 3, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Photograph by Tom Clare

By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News

A mother’s diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and increase the risk of obesity, according to researchers.

The study, to be published in the journal Diabetes, showed that eating low levels of carbohydrate changed bits of DNA.

It then showed children with these changes were fatter.

The British Heart Foundation called for better nutritional and lifestyle support for women.

It is thought that a developing baby tries to predict the environment it will be born into, taking cues from its mother and adjusting its DNA.

Epigenetics:

Studies in animals have shown that changes in diet can alter the function of genes – known as epigenetic change.

It is a growing field trying to understand how the environment interacts with genes.

In this study, the researchers took samples from the umbilical cord and looked for “epigenetic markers”.

They showed that mothers with early pregnancy diets low in carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch, had children with these markers.

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