IU School of Public Health-BloomingtonNews and Updates

It is well-known that obesity tracks from childhood to adulthood most strongly of all cardiometabolic risk factors.

The goal of the research, lead by Wasantha Jayawardene, Assistant Research Scientist at the School of Public Health, and published in Clinical Obesity, was to determine the relationship of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) with cardiometabolic risk (dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and elevated blood pressure) in a large U.S. population ages 12–19 and demographic subgroups. (more…)

The long-term management and prevention of Zika virus requires understanding of reproductive and sexual health behaviours, including mechanisms of partnered decision-making. In their research “Performing Purity: Gendered Dynamics of reproductive decision making under threat of Zika in Peru,” the research team, led by Lucia Guerra-Reyes,  reported on a qualitative study conducted before the arrival of Zika in Iquitos, Peru.

They assessed existing patterns of reproductive decision-making among partnered men and women in a community under threat of Zika and discussed how these may impact Zika prevention in the long-term. They used a rapid qualitative assessment methodology, including in-depth semi-structured interviews with partnered women (28) and men (21). (more…)

In a study released recently in the Pan-American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington found that U.S. adults, especially young men, lack awareness of how Zika virus is transmitted, and how at risk they are for the virus. More than 90 percent of those surveyed reported either no risk or low risk of Zika in the next six months. This comes even after more than 5,000 cases of Zika have been reported in the continental U.S. (more…)