Remember the Food Pyramid?

Every five years the US federal government reviews the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Remember the days of the "Food Pyramid" and then the recent 2005 edition of the "My Pyramid"? Well, if you missed my past post on the topic you should see the Harvard School of Public Health rendition - the Healthy Eating Pyramid - which has a much simpler and scientific food guide for health!

Marion Nestle noted author and public health professor said in a blog post in the Daily Green today that the new recommendations acknowledge

"The need to change the food environment to help individuals meet the Dietary Guidelines."

This is a huge step in the right direction. No longer are our food addictions being looked at simply from the perspective on the individual, but as rooted firmly in the policies and norms of the communities we live in. Our environment impacts our choices, and our food choices affect our health.

There will be an opportunity for public comment on the new guidelines early this summer.

One Year of a Public Health Blog!

August came and went so quickly that I hardly even realized that there is an anniversary to celebrate -- one year of Veritas Health, my beloved public health blog. I started Veritas Health because I could not find anything on the web like it. Individuals just didn't seem to be writing about their public health experiences or ideas on the web! Now I not only have a public health blog, but am Co-Editor at the new HSPH Connection blog and have a Twitter account (which is in dire need of followers...)!

More recently I have noticed a flurry of internet public health activity. Departments of Public Health have Twitter accounts and even CEOs of large hospitals have their own blog. This public health and new media thing is really beginning to catch on.

Nonetheless, it would be inaccurate ignore that Veritas Health was also a way for me to chronicle my own public health journey. One that is far from complete. This week I begin my second year at Harvard School of Public Health. I am excited to be taking classes in communication (*hopefully*) and financial management at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard School of Education, as well. I look forward to broadening my graduate school horizon and learning from professors and students not immersed in public health themselves.

I hope my readers will be patient with me as school ramps up, it is likely that posts will become a bit more infrequent (though I promise to still regularly post...whatever that may mean). I have lots of ideas and a Veritas Health New Year's resolution list to achieve!
Happy Anniversary Veritas Health.

RP: What does climate change have to do with it?

If RT stands for 'retweet' on Twitter then RP stands for 'repost' on Veritas Health.

Check out my latest post on Society & Health. I discuss some of the health and social consequences of climate change, including insights from the Humanitarian Action Summit, held at Harvard University in March. Here's the first paragraph if you need a preview...

"An article on the intersection of climate change and social determinants of health (SDH) in Global Health Promotion recently caught my eye. Climate change interventions ought to consider the social context in which they (will) occur in order to prevent a widening of health inequalities. ..."

How might climate change affect your health?

Sister Site Launched!

I am excited to announce the launch of Society and Health (S&H) a blog that specifically investigates the social determinants of health. Several Harvard students (about 10 of us) will be contributing regularly to the blog. While we are all interested in "social factors" and how policies and programs can be better designed to account for them, we also have very different interests and perspectives on public health. I hope you check out the site and look at it often!

My posts at Society and Health will be linked from Veritas Health. I think this is a great opportunity to expand readership and try to get a better handle on how we can best disseminate new and interesting public health information.