Two billion people globally suffer from moderate to severe food insecurity and widespread micronutrient deficiencies. This contrasts with 654 million people who are classified as extremely poor according to the World Bank’s US$2.15 per day International Poverty Line (IPL). Current poverty measures overlook a crucial aspect of human well-being: adequate nutrition. In collaboration with Misereor, a research team from the University of Göttingen has developed a new way of assessing poverty that incorporates the affordability of healthy diets in addition to other basic needs. According to these metrics, in 2022 between 2.3 and 2.9 billion people globally lived in poverty. The study is published in the journal Food Policy.

A new study led by Prof. Dan Zeltzer, a digital health expert from the Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University, compared the quality of diagnostic and treatment recommendations made by artificial intelligence (AI) and physicians at Cedars-Sinai Connect, a virtual urgent care clinic in Los Angeles, operated in collaboration with Israeli startup K Health. The paper was published in Annals of Internal Medicine and presented at the annual conference of the American College of Physicians (ACP). This work was supported with funding by K Health.

A new study maps how specific lactic acid bacteria can enhance both the flavour and nutritional quality of plant-based dairy alternatives. The findings may have wide-reaching perspectives for the further development of sustainable foods.

In the Amazon, gold mining is a thriving business, pushing deep into the rainforest and indigenous lands. Small-scale operations set up primarily illicitly and operated in the shadows use mercury, a substance with neurotoxic properties, for gold extraction. Now, a team of researchers examined if trees native to the Peruvian Amazon could be used as biomonitors for gold mining activities. By examining mercury concentrations in tree rings, they concluded that some species could bear witness to illegal mining activities.

Researchers explored the long-term effects of preschool expansion in Japan in the 1960s, revealing significant reductions in risky behaviors amongst teenagers. By analyzing regional differences in the rollout of the program, the study identified links between early childhood education and lower rates of juvenile violent arrests and teenage pregnancy. The findings suggest that improved noncognitive skills played a key role in mitigating risky behaviors, highlighting the lasting benefits of early-education policies.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical deficiencies in the global health system and provides important lessons to improve preparedness for future emergencies. A case in point is Latin America, where access to testing was constrained by affordability and poor infrastructure. In recent months, three pivotal studies have converged to highlight critical vulnerabilities and lessons for global health resilience and equity. From diagnostic limitations in resource-limited settings to socioeconomic disparities in testing capacity, these findings underscore the need for collaborative and globally equitable health strategies.