PI's Weekly Media Digest: New FDA rules on added sugars, study on e-cigs and indoor air pollution, and more

Health equity

The Washington Post Wonkblog reported on economic data showing that African Americans and Hispanic Americans face higher unemployment rates than whites (7.8% for African Americans, 5.9% for Hispanic Americans, 4.3% for white Americans), and a wide wage gap with white workers earning more than any other groups. “Recent reports have revealed troubling facts about the wage gap. Census data analyzed by the National Women’s Law Center shows that, while women overall make only 80 cents for every dollar paid to a man, the wage gap yawns when race and ethnicity enter into the picture. Latina women make only 54 cents for every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic man, while African American women make 63 cents, the report says.”

Three of Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions African-American colleagues in Congress testified against him at his confirmation hearing this week. Representative John Lewis recounted his experiences during the civil rights movement and questioned whether Sessions would undo progress that has been made. Senator Cory Booker argued that Sessions has “not demonstrated a commitment to a central requirement of the job: to aggressively pursue the congressional mandate of civil rights, equal rights, and justice for all. In fact, at numerous times in his career, he has demonstrated a hostility toward these convictions, and has worked to frustrate attempts to advance these ideals."

PoliticoPro (subscription only) reports on a new CDC report finding that Americans who live in rural areas have higher death rates and suffer more preventable deaths than people in urban areas. "For example, 42.6 percent of heart disease deaths among people in rural areas in 2014 were potentially preventable, compared to just 27.8 percent in metropolitan areas. Likewise, roughly 50 percent of deaths from unintentional injuries among people in rural areas were potentially preventable, compared to 30.9 percent in metropolitan areas."

Community environments

The FDA released rules on labeling added sugars and adjusting serving sizes. The new rules aren't scheduled to go into effect until 2018, unless the incoming administration nixes them altogether.

Philadelphia’s soda tax took effect last week. Politico shares an infographic on price increases here.

A new paper from UC-San Francisco, “Electronic cigarette use and indoor air quality in a natural setting,” finds that air pollution from e-cigarette use indoors compares to secondhand smoke risks.

Violence and unintentional injury

​The Huffington Post examined the deadliest shootings "you didn't hear about" in 2016: domestic violence ​incidents. “When people think about mass shootings, they typically think about a shooting that takes place in public, a stranger shooting at innocent bystanders... But we know that in the majority of these cases, they occur within the context of a relationship or family dynamic plagued by domestic violence.”

The murder rate rose in many US cities for the second year in a row last year. FiveThirtyEight estimates the increase to be about 11.3% across major US cities, with cities like Chicago accounting for a disproportionate share of homicides.

Mental health

Although local public health departments view mental health as a public health issue and increasingly, a priority, their engagement in addressing mental health is limited due to lack of resources, knowledge and connection with behavioral health providers, according to a study out of Drexel University. The authors of the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, suggest that reforms to the financing of the current health system offer opportunities to address this disconnect.

People who live in more “walkable” neighborhoods have a higher rate of diagnosed depression and anti-depressant use, according to a study from the Harvard School of Public Health. The study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine also found that people were more likely to report depression symptoms in walkable neighborhoods, but only in those areas with “higher deprivation.” The authors concluded that “Although dense urban environments may provide opportunities for physical activity, they may also increase exposure to noise, air pollution, and social stressors that could increase levels of depression.”

Physical activity that involves teams, games or other people is more beneficial to mental health than walking alone, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Health. The study from Penn State University compared playing tennis, “non-team play sports” and walking alone and found that people who played tennis were less likely to report frequent mental distress. The authors suggested that “adding social or affective components to physical activity may enhance engagement and retention in activity promotion efforts and their benefits on mental health.”

STAT reports that public health professionals are hopeful that Dr. Ben Carson, President-Elect Trump’s pick to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, may bring a health lens to housing, including awareness around how stable housing can contribute to lower rates of anxiety and depression.

A British journalist writes about her experiences with depression, including her discoveries that “the activities I did to treat my depression were as important as the medicine I was taking” and that in spite of national health insurance, “you’re more likely to recover from a mental illness if you have money” to fund these activities as well as supplemental care.

The Washington Post reports a reformulation of OxyContin in 2010 -- to discourage abuse by making it difficult to crush or dissolve the pills -- turned people toward heroin, according to a new working paper from researchers at the RAND Corp and the Wharton School.

Health systems transformation

As Republicans move closer to repealing the Affordable Care Act, an NYU/Harvard study finds that repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the opioid "treatment gap" by 50%. The Commonwealth Fund reports that repealing the ACA would cut 2.6 million jobs, with California facing nearly 334,000 job losses by 2019.

Trump asked Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, to chair a commission to investigate widely discredited concerns about vaccine safety and links to autism that have been repeatedly debunked.