Pamela K. Xaverius, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Saint Louis University, and a former grantee with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Connections program. This post is part of a series in which RWJF scholars, fellows and alumni who are attending the American Public Health Association annual meeting reflect on the experience.

As a former New Connections grantee from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, I was asked to blog about my experience with one of my posters at the 140th annual conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in San Francisco this week. The poster was entitled “Prevalence of Preconception Lifestyle Behaviors Between Women With and Without Diabetes.”

There has been a groundswell of activity across the U.S. around the idea that if women want to have healthy babies, they need to be healthy before they get pregnant (aka, preconception health). This idea fits well with the overall theme of the APHA conference this year: Prevention and Wellness Across the Lifespan.

My co-authors and I presented a poster on secondary analysis of data that looked at the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and diabetes status among women of reproductive age. The biggest takeaway that we wanted people to have from this poster was that 93 percent of women with diabetes are not intending a pregnancy, and 73.2 percent of them are not using any birth control method (40.5 percent) or using less effective birth control methods (32.7 percent). This is a recipe for significant public health concern, with the growing rates of diabetes coupled with the potentially deleterious consequences of unmanaged diabetes during pregnancy.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, was one of several experts taking part in a recent “Intelligence Squared U.S.” debate, grappling with the pros and cons of rationing end-of-life care, NPR reports. Kellermann is both an RWJF Clinical Scholars and RWJF Health Policy Fellows alumnus, and serves on the Clinical Scholars program’s National Advisory Committee.

The Mohawk Valley Business Journal in Central New York state reports on a joint nurse-training program that will allow high school graduates to earn both associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing in four years, and sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s National Council Licensure Examination after three years. The program is funded by a grant from RWJF’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program.

Research co-led by Jennifer Wenzel, PhD, RN, an alumna of the RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program, finds that married South Korean women with diabetes say they believe that the stress of caring for their families played a role in contracting the disease, according to a United Press International (UPI) story. The study also found that many of the women "did not make enough time to care for themselves because of their obligations to the family," UPI reports, noting that the women often had difficulty managing their disease because their husbands and children disapproved of diabetes-friendly meals.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

A story in the New York Times reports on a study, co-authored by RWJF Health & Society Scholars Program Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, and RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient James Jackson, PhD, that finds the life expectancy of the country’s least-educated whites is decreasing. The story also cites research by Health & Society Scholar Jennifer Montez, PhD, which found similar trends for the least-educated Americans.

Christina Roberto, PhD, a Health & Society Scholar, spoke to USA Today about McDonald's posting calorie counts on its menu boards and drive-through menus, a move that could be required of all chain restaurants in the future. “In general, this is a hot topic,” she said. “The industry is concerned about policies that either [deter] customers from coming or hurt their bottom line.”

Health & Society Scholars alumnus Jason Block, MD, was also in the news to discuss fast food calorie counts. MedPage Today reports on research he led that finds many parents underestimate how many calories are in the fast food meals they buy for their school-age children.

The Paramus Post and the News Record report on some of the New Jersey Nursing Initiative (NJNI) scholars who have completed NJNI’s Faculty Preparation Program. Twenty of the program's Scholars graduated this year with advanced degrees that prepare them to serve as nurse faculty.

Nurse.com reports on the recent retirement of Shirley Chater, RN, PhD, FAAN, who was the national advisory committee chair for the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program since its inception in 1998. Learn more about Chater's impressive career here and here.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

A study by RWJF Physician Faculty Scholar Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, finds female physicians considered to be among “the cream of the crop” make an average of $12,000 less a year than their male counterparts. The disparity persists even after accounting for physicians’ specialties, productivity, family status and other factors. HealthDay, Reuters, the Washington Post, Fox News and the Associated Press are among the outlets to report on the findings. Read more about the study.

Nurse.com reports on a study led by RWJF Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) grantees Michele Balas, RN, PhD, APRN-NP, CCRN, and William Burke, MD, that finds a series of evidence-based practices employed by a nurse-led health care team can reduce the risk of delirium for ICU patients and speed recovery after discharge.

Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, a Physician Faculty Scholar, is the author of a study that finds children who live in rural areas are less likely to have food allergies than children who live in cities. The study is the first to examine the prevalence of child food allergies by geographical region. CBS News, HealthDay, Parents Magazine’s High Chair Times blog and the Scientific American are among the outlets to report on the findings.

By Najaf Ahmad, MPH, Communications Associate, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Human Capital Portfolio

Walking through Barnes & Noble recently, a book on the “New Arrivals” rack stopped me in my tracks. By now you may know about My Sugar Obsession. So despite being in a rush, I was immediately drawn to Sugar Nation.

Imagine reuniting with a father you haven’t seen in years, finding him in an unrecognizable condition—a “human body in the process of cannibalizing itself”—on death’s door with a missing limb. Author Jeff O’Connell begins with this moving story of how he learned that his estranged father was slowly dying from the ravages of type 2 diabetes.

Despite having learned of his father’s leg amputation weeks earlier, O’Connell—former editor-in-chief at Muscle & Fitness magazine and executive writer at Men’s Health magazine—was certain he had nothing to worry about. He worked out, was lean and appeared healthy. His thin physique didn’t fit the stereotype of someone predisposed to developing type 2 diabetes.

A sobering visit with his doctor shook O’Connell to his core. He was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and headed down the same path as his father. Rather than accepting this fate though, he embarked on a mission to fight back against the enemy lurking within him. In doing so, he unearthed crucial information on how lifestyle factors influence diabetes.

More interestingly, he discovered the troubling manner in which health care providers are (or are not) responding to this burgeoning problem, going so far as to say that many “seem clueless when it comes to diagnosing this disease, let alone treating it.”

Although genes play a prominent role in predisposing someone to type 2 diabetes, lifestyle is a major influence. O’Connell underscores how type 2 diabetes stems from “the sum total of a very long trail of personal choices, made over a lifetime.” We pay a heavy price for our love affair with sugar, as massive quantities from processed foods shock our bodies. It shouldn’t be surprising then that one in three adults in the United States now has a blood sugar abnormality that predisposes them to diabetes-related complications such as heart disease, kidney failure and blindness. Sadly, many do not know they are affected until they develop these complications.