With the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and most provisions due to take effect in 2014, it’s reasonable to ask what MD Anderson is doing to prepare.
Fall 2013 : CANCER BRIEFINGS
Where you live may raise your risk of obesity
Recent findings show that African-American adults living closer to a fast food restaurant have a higher body mass index (BMI) than those who live further away from fast food. Published online in the American Journal of Public Health, the study was led by Lorraine Reitzel, Ph.D., assistant professor in Health Disparities Research at MD Anderson.
Data were collected from a large sample of more than 1,400 African-American adult participants taking part in the Project CHURCH research study, a collaboration between MD Anderson and Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, one of the largest Methodist churches in the United States.
The study controlled for factors that may influence a person’s BMI, including:
- Gender and age
- Physical activity
- Individual household income, median neighborhood income
- Income and education
- Partner status and whether there were children in the home
- Employment status
- Residential tenure
- Sedentary behaviors (the amount of time watching television)
Although the study indicated that the relationship between a higher BMI and proximity to fast food was stronger among those of lower incomes, it was still significant in the group with higher incomes. The data also show that every additional mile participants live from the closest fast food restaurant was associated with a 2.4% lower BMI.
“Fast food is specifically designed to be affordable, appealing and convenient,” Reitzel says. “People are pressed for time, and they behave in such a way that will cost them the least amount of time to get things done, and this may extend to their food choices.” She also notes that those with lower incomes may have less access to transportation to healthier food options.
More Stories From Conquest
Creating an umbrella of care
Patients in cancer treatment often have other health issues that can affect treatment and/or quality of life. Over the past 25 years, MD Anderson has added myriad services to handle these conditions while providing quality care for patients.
Seed, soil and metastasis
In 1889, Stephen Paget, an English surgeon and pathologist, hypothesized that metastasis (the spread of cancer) did not occur randomly. It took nearly a century before Isaiah Fidler came along to prove him right.
50 years of educating scientists
As the graduate school celebrates its 50th anniversary, its two leaders assess their first year as deans and look forward to an exciting future.
Understanding epigenetics to develop new therapies
Some might call it fate. Three scientists who started their careers in different parts of the world and come from different scientific disciplines now work together at MD Anderson to develop new treatments for patients.
