Public health

Public health

Ultra-processed foods filled with preservatives, additives and flavour enhancers have been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer. In the UK and US, more than half of the average diet consists of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), such as ready meals, fast food and fizzy drinks. A previous BMJ study in 2024 linked UPFs to 32 harmful health effects including a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, adverse mental health and early death.

She and her wife had a blended family of five kids that cost a lot to keep healthy. As a result, years ago, the couple had asked PrairieStar if they could set up an ongoing payment plan to automatically take money from their checking accounts multiple times a month. Voss-Barnes would later state in a court filing that PrairieStar never informed her those payments were not enough to cover her bills and keep her out of collections.

Dr James Heydon and a team from the University of Nottingham measured air pollution in 20 UK homes for four weeks. Each had a Defra approved wood stove, exempted for use in smoke control areas. We found that wood burning can trigger sharp spikes in indoor air pollution, he said. The biggest increases were associated with routine stove management like lighting the stove, opening the door to refuel, and tending the fire.

Third- and fourth-degree tears, also known as obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI), are the most severe forms of vaginal tearing during childbirth. Up to 90% of women experience some tearing during labour, with most of these injuries healing quickly and having a relatively minor impact. A third-degree tear extends into the muscle that controls the anus and a fourth-degree tear extends further into the lining of the anus.

The findings, which were drawn from the "pleasure report" by the instructional website OMGYES, and published in the journal PLOS ONE, come from a survey of more than 3,000 women, ages 18 to 93, from across the United States. Women were asked how they tend to increase their own pleasure during sex. (This particular study focused specifically on vaginal penetration, and the majority of the respondents identified as heterosexual.)

The angry rumble of a speeding SUV. The metallic smog of backlogged traffic. The aching heat of sun-dried neighbourhoods baking in an oven of concrete and asphalt. For most people, the mundane threats that plague our environments are likely to annoy more than they spark dread. But for scientists who know just how dangerous our surroundings can be, the burden of knowledge weighs heavy each day.

The Trump administration initiated seismic changes in world of foreign aid with dramatic impacts on health and poverty programs. Scary (and sometimes ancient) viruses circulated. But there were moments of hope and beauty, too like an award-winning collection of drone photos. That's all evident in our selection of the stories that got the most page views in 2025. Here are the most popular stories from our global health and development coverage in Goats and Soda.

Diagnosed with autism at 14 months, Aubreigh Osborne started this year struggling to control outbursts and sometimes hurting herself. Her trouble with social interactions made her family reluctant to go out in public. But this summer, they started applied behavior analysis therapy, commonly called ABA, which often is used to help people diagnosed with autism improve social interactions and communication.

We're making meaningful progress on improving the prior authorization process. ... With many improvements going live in January, we remain committed to streamlining processes and reducing the scope of requirements to improve the experience for patients and providers,

Medicaid programs made more than $200 million in improper payments to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for people who had already died, according to a new report from the independent watchdog for the Department of Health and Human Services. But the department's Office of Inspector General said it expects a new provision in Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill requiring states to audit their Medicaid beneficiary lists may help reduce these improper payments in the future.

The disadvantage faced by children who've grown up in care is a huge social injustice. That's why we're taking cross-government action to transform life chances for these children and care leavers. This package of health measures will make a tangible difference to reduce health inequalities, keep more children safe and help more families with intensive support. It also delivers on recommendations from the independent review of children's social care that I published in 2022.

Sunday officially marked the start of winter yet our hospitals have been in the thick of it for months. Flu, other respiratory illnesses, and bugs including norovirus are spreading through our communities and placing a real strain on our services and the best present you can give us this year is taking steps to avoid these and a visit to hospital. A huge thank-you to all of our teams who are working in such challenging circumstances at this time of year to provide compassionate care for our patients.

Patrick Hotze's three daughters made it home safe from Camp Mystic after July's catastrophic floods that killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors. He attended some of the funerals and says he understands the outrage over the Texas camp's plan to partially reopen next year. He also intends to send his girls back. My heart is broken for them, Hotze said of the parents whose girls died, including some he described as close friends. I think it's different for each kid and each family.

Planning for the project began in 2022. Officials said the new learning facility will feature modern classrooms and lab facilities, including a wet lab that supports public health research, where students will get hands-on experience. Although CUNY learning currently takes place at the site, officials will add more than 2 million square feet of academic space over an entire block once the project is completed.

Soon after President Donald Trump froze foreign aid on his first day in office, my colleague Brett Murphy and I began hearing from government experts. We learned that despite explicit promises from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that food and other life-saving care would continue during the administration's review of foreign aid, programs were shutting down, putting millions of lives at risk.

When you're packing up your treats for the journey, keep in mind that hard candy is a major choking hazard for and therefore one of the worst snacks to pack for a road trip. In 2023, over 5,000 people died from choking in the United States, according to Statista. Hard candy is identified as one of the most common choking hazards, especially in children and the elderly. In fact, the CDC recommends parents avoid giving hard candy to children altogether.

Like many young girls, Mara Berton and June Higginbotham knew from an early age they wanted families and to become mothers. But as lesbians, they were excluded from accessing the same fertility treatment insurance benefits offered to heterosexual peers. Instead, like many other same-sex couples, Berton and Higginbotham, who live in Santa Clara County, had to pay $45,000 out of pocket to conceive while heterosexual colleagues with the same insurance plan had many of those costs covered.

We have 25 beds [in] isolation for measles, but every day the number of cases is increasing, Almohammed said in an interview from Amsterdam. The capacity of MSF to respond to all the needs of the people in Darfur is really limited. We cannot cover everything. Yes, we are trying to focus on the most lifesaving medical care, but still, our capacity is also limited, he said.

"Am I just going to stop this medication to stop having to deal with these coding issues and these scary bills?"

Kara is not a lawyer. Her background is in public health and communications. Yet she now leads a company that has used AI to summarize more than 3.3 million judicial opinions and made them free and publicly available. In our conversation on "Notes to My (Legal) Self," she explained how justice, like health, is a public good. And access to law is one of its critical delivery systems.

Research has shown there to be psychological and physical benefits to be gained through civic engagement-involvement in an activity that supports one's local community. Such activities include volunteering, such as working in a soup kitchen; fundraising for a nonprofit; participating in a charitable cause, such as a "fun run"; voting or supporting a candidate; visiting people who are sick; serving as a booster for a school's athletic team; organizing a neighborhood event, such as a potluck dinner; and taking part in an environmental cleanup.

People line up outside the Centro Latino de San Francisco, a civic center serving seniors and those with disabilities, to receive the free lunch that they offer in San Francisco on Aug. 14, 2025. Experts across the state are reporting that older patients and social service clients are staying home to avoid rampant immigration enforcement. (Courtesy of Matthew Busch/The Investigative Reporting Program)