​Imagine you’re navigating the bustling aisles of supermarkets after a tiring day of work, and your attention is quickly drawn by all convenience, ready-to-eat options prepared on site. These prepared foods don’t require any extensive cooking, a perfect match for your busy life. In the US, prepared foods in supermarkets are in high demand over the past decades because of their convenience. However, this convenience comes at a cost of low nutritional quality and raises public health concerns. Petimar et al. led a study published in 2023 that revealed the high calories and low nutrient density reality behind supermarket prepared foods. 

This study found a substantial growth in prepared foods in supermarkets over time (2015-2019) by investigating two supermarket chains in the US ~1200 stores. Both the percentage of prepared foods in overall food products and, the variety of prepared foods increased over time, doubling in 2019 (6.4%, 4113 items) compared to 2015 (3.1%, 1930 items).

Calories and other nutrients of concerns—sugar, saturated fat, and sodium—from prepared foods showed a slow, increasing trend when diving into both purchasing information at transaction level and nutrition information. However, the percentage of total nutrients purchased from prepared foods was stable over time, which may suggest consumers increased overall foods purchased.

Additionally, most of the prepared foods were high in calories, sugar, saturated fat and sodium. When looking at the variety of prepared foods, over 90% of prepared bakery and deli items, and 61% of prepared entrees had high calories or were high in at least 1 of the nutrients of concern. Prepared foods also showed similar nutritional profiles when compared with supermarket packaged foods and with restaurant foods.

These findings illustrate that prepared foods might be convenient for consumers to grab and go, but they showed very similar concerning nutritional profiles—high in calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium—as supermarket packaged foods and restaurant foods. The similar nutritional profiles between prepared foods and packaged foods might contradict consumers’ common sense as prepared on site could be healthier. A previous study found consumers may pay more attention to the packaged foods’ labels and  consider the nutritional content before purchasing. Policy and behavior interventions should be developed to better inform consumers about the nutrition values in prepared foods which could lead to healthier food choices when shopping at supermarkets.
 

Author 
Yutong Zhang is a Research Analyst at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute within the Division of Chronic Diseases Across the Lifecourse (CoRAL). She has a broad interest in nutrition epidemiology and food labeling policy. She holds a master's degree in Nutrition Intervention, Communication, and Behavior Change from Tufts University. Before joining CoRAL, she worked as a research assistant at Tufts Friedmann School of Nutrition Science and Policy focusing on nutritional data management and foodborne outbreak analysis. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and taking care of plants.

​Families with school aged children are probably familiar with the hecticness that accompanies a morning before school: waking up early, getting the kids showered and dressed, zipping up book reports and last night’s homework into backpacks, and squeezing in 10 minutes for breakfast before racing out the door to catch the bus. Thankfully, preparing breakfast and lunch are two tasks that parents no longer have to worry about each morning. With universal school meals, every child who wants or needs a school lunch or breakfast can receive those meals at no cost to their family. 

​In August 2023, Governor Healy and the Massachusetts Legislature made a monumental decision to make School Meals for All in Massachusetts permanent. Massachusetts is the 8th state to implement universal school meals, joining California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont. Additionally, 28 other states are currently working to expand free school meal legislation in the near future. This program covers the cost of one lunch and breakfast, including fruit, vegetables, and whole grains, as per the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.

During the pandemic, food insecurity reached the highest level in decades, amplifying the need for stable sources of nutritious meals for children. In October 2020, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported that every day, 14 million children were going hungry, and the percentage of U.S. households with children experiencing food insecurity doubled. But even with the pandemic behind us, the number of children living in food insecure households has not changed. In a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in September 2024, it was reported that 13.5% of households in the U.S. were food insecure at least some time during 2023, including 14 million children – an increase of 1 million children from 2022.

States like Massachusetts are recognizing the protection that universal school meals can provide from the harmful and potentially long-lasting consequences of poor nutrition and unstable food sources. Studies show that children facing food insecurity have difficulty concentrating, decreased academic performance, increased behavioral issues, and increased illness. Additionally, food insecurity in children is associated with obesity, poor social functioning, and increased mental health issues.

In the 2022-2023 school year—the first year of state-funded universal school meals in Massachusetts—the state served 12.2 million more lunches than in the 2018-2019 school year. Additionally, 61,500 more students were served lunch at school every day. Research shows that participation in school meals improves academic achievement, attendance, and school behavior. Participation in school meals also provides nutritional and health benefits for children such as increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and milk, and even reduced visits to the school nurse.
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When students participate in their school’s meal program, everyone benefits. Parents save time and money from having to prepare meals for their kids, schools receive additional revenue from the state to invest in their meal programs, and students can enjoy healthy and nutritious meals together while breaking down the stigma of participating in reduced meal programs. 

​Watching this past summer’s Olympics, one of my favorite breakout stars was Team USA Rugby player Ilona Maher. Maher has gained attention for promoting body positivity for young girls; she often talks about how her Body Mass Index (BMI) has always qualified her as overweight. While she was insecure about her larger size as a child, she now emphasizes her size allowed her to have the strength and athleticism to become a champion rugby player. As a mom with two young kids, Maher’s comments about BMI and childhood body image made me think about how frequently I see BMI numbers for my kids and how little I understand about what they mean, which led me to explore the topic.  

For each of my children’s After Visit Summaries (AVS) following pediatric visits, BMI is listed at the top. For children, BMIs are given a percentile and it is this that is used to categorize a child’s weight. The Center for Disease control provides the following definitions:

•  Underweight: less than 5th percentile
•  Healthy Weight: 5th to less than 85th percentile
•  Overweight: 85th to less than 95th percentile
•  Obese: 95th percentile or greater
•  Severe Obesity: 120% of the 95th percentile or greater 

While pediatricians have reported BMI for my children starting from birth, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that there are no accepted definitions for underweight, overweight, or obesity for children under two years of age. It is at age two that universal BMI screening is recommended for annual physicals.

Both physicians and parents can agree that a focus on childhood obesity prevention is important, both to mitigate possible health consequences facing children and to decrease the likelihood of obesity in adulthood. In fact, numerous studies have shown that children with obesity are more likely to also have obesity as adults. Early weight management in kids seems crucial; for example, a 2018 study found that a critical window for rapid weight gain is between the ages of two and six.

If early weight management is important, how do we monitor it? There are criticisms that BMI does not measure body fat or distribution and does not identify the factors leading to obesity in a patient. To address this, the American Medical Association issued a new policy in 2023 urging physicians to use other measurements, including visceral fat, body adiposity, waist circumference, and genetic/metabolic factors, as these measurements better predict obesity. Lending support to these recommendations, a study published in 2024 found that using waist circumference-to-height ratio is a more accurate predictor of fat mass in children compared to BMI.

Other studies suggest that physical activity levels, not BMI, have a greater impact on mortality. One metanalysis found that cardiorespiratory fitness predicted mortality risk better than BMI, with “fit” individuals categorized as overweight/obese having similar mortality risks to “fit” individuals with normal weights. In addition, “unfit” individuals had twice the mortality risk of “fit” individuals, regardless of BMI.

​However, despite growing debate regarding its use, BMI is still the CDC’s recommended obesity screening metric for children. Given this, when it comes to that ever-present BMI number, my takeaway is that it I shouldn’t fixate on it or let my children. It is just one piece of information to help understand the full health picture. As we saw this past summer, Olympic athletes come in many shapes and sizes, which highlights the significance of encouraging kids to discover the forms of physical activity that best suit their interests and abilities. 

                                                                                                     Matthew Johnson, M.D. 

​Right now, there’s a good chance you have a cup of coffee in your hand or within an arm’s reach. Whether you use it to transform from a zombie to a functioning human being in the morning, to provide an afternoon pick-me-up, or to give you an energy boost before you hit the gym, many of us love coffee and drink it regularly. But is coffee good for you?

Coffee lovers probably don’t think about its health benefits or risks when they grab their daily cup, yet this beverage has been the subject of a long history of debate. In fact, from 1991 until 2016, coffee was labeled as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Today, many still consider coffee to be a minor health vice that people enjoy because life’s too short not to live a little. After all, coffee contains caffeine and a slew of hard-to-pronounce compounds that sound unhealthy (chlorogenic acid, quinides, and kahweol to name a few); however, others tout the health benefits of coffee and point to its potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. To assess coffee’s impact on our health, we can look at its relationship to the two leading causes of death and sickness in the US: cancer and cardiovascular disease.
 
First, let’s look at the link between coffee and cancer. Two large academic studies, both published in 2017, provide insight into this relationship. The first found that coffee consumption was related to a lower risk of death from several cancers, including head and neck, colorectal, liver, and female breast cancers, but found a higher risk of death from esophageal cancer in coffee drinkers. The second study combined and re-examined evidence from many smaller studies to report that high coffee consumption (4+ cups per day), compared to low or no coffee consumption (0-4 cups per day), was associated with an overall 18% decreased risk of cancer. Additionally, high coffee consumers had lower risks of numerous individual cancers and no convincingly increased risk of any individual cancer, including esophageal cancer. Together, these studies suggest that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing cancer. 
 
Next, we can examine the relationship between coffee and cardiovascular disease, the #1 cause of death both in the US and globally. Coffee folklore suggests that coffee and caffeine cause elevated blood pressure, which then leads to heart disease; however, that’s not actually the case. Some evidence suggests no link between coffee and heart disease, while several other studies report that coffee consumption is actually linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. For example, a collection of studies, including over 1 million individuals, found that individuals with moderate coffee consumption (3-5 cups per day) had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people who do not consume coffee. Additionally, even people with the highest coffee consumption (5 cups per day) did not have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
 
Bringing all the evidence together, it appears that coffee drinking is linked to lower cancer occurrence, a reduction in cardiovascular disease, and even lower mortality from any cause. However, there are always caveats. First, these findings are relevant to the average adult, not pregnant women, kids, or people with specific health conditions who should decrease or eliminate coffee or caffeine intake. Second, as good as the research on this topic is, significant limitations remain because coffee consumption is linked to other behaviors, socioeconomic factors, dietary practices, etc. Therefore, it’s unclear if coffee is causing health benefits, or if coffee consumption is associated with other health-promoting practices or behaviors.
 
So, to answer the question, “Is coffee good for you?” the adage “everything in moderation” likely applies here. It’s safe to say the evidence supports that moderate (~4 cups per day) coffee consumption does not have adverse health effects and may even have multiple health benefits. This means that tomorrow morning or this afternoon, when you’re sipping your coffee, you can enjoy it a little more knowing that it’s both bringing you joy and possibly even supporting your health.

Author
Matthew is a resident physician in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, where he developed a passion for clinical care and medical education. His career interests include cardiology, medical education, clinical research, and healthcare leadership. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and reading. 

                                                                                                                     Joshua Petimar, ScD

If you’ve ever taken prescription medication, you know side effects can be a major concern. When listening to any pharmaceutical ad, you’ll hear a long list of potential side effects, from mild symptoms like upset stomach to serious issues like increased risk of infections and cancer. Side effects can introduce new health problems and cause people to stop treatment for their initial health issue. 

Side effects are a common concern for the 1 in 7 Americans taking an antidepressant. One worry patients have about taking antidepressants is potential weight gain. This is understandable as weight gain can translate into higher risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. It’s also very difficult for most people to lose weight and keep it off. Some patients may be so concerned about weight gain that they stop taking their medication altogether, increasing the risk of depression relapse and hospitalization.
 
Given that antidepressants remain crucial to improving the health and well-being of those living with psychiatric disorders, research into understanding potential side effects is crucial. For example, wouldn’t it be great if patients and their doctors could predict which antidepressants would lead to the most or least weight gain before they start treatment?
 
Our new study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, sought to answer this exact question. We compared average weight change among 180,000 patients in the U.S. who were prescribed one of 8 common first-line antidepressants for the first time (sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, duloxetine, venlafaxine, and bupropion). We followed the patients for 2 years and compared weight change at 6, 12, and 24 months.
 
We found that all medications were associated with weight gain after 6 months, except bupropion. Patients gained about 0.3-0.4 kg more weight (about 0.7-0.9 lb.) if they took escitalopram, paroxetine, or duloxetine compared to sertraline (the most commonly prescribed medication). However, many of these differences narrowed when we looked at weight change after 12 and 24 months. In contrast, patients gained about 0.2 kg less weight (about 0.4 lb.) after 6 months if they took bupropion rather than sertraline. At 12 months, they were expected to gain 0.7 kg less weight (about 1.5 lb.), and at 24 months, they were expected to gain 0.9 kg less weight (about 2 lbs.). 






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​These results led us to conclude that bupropion was associated with the least amount of weight gain among the 8 antidepressants we examined. Of course, bupropion might not be right for all patients. For doctors who prefer SSRIs (the most common subclass of antidepressants) and are concerned about their patients’ weight, they might consider sertraline or fluoxetine. Of the SSRIs we studied, these were associated with the least amount of weight gain in the first 6 months—when patients might be more likely to stop taking their medication due to side effects.
 
Of course, weight gain is just one component of antidepressant treatment. Doctors must balance a drug’s potential to treat a specific patient’s health issues with other side effects that could impact their life. For antidepressants, other common side effects include upset stomach, diarrhea, headache, and sexual dysfunction. Some of these might be more concerning to patients than weight gain. Patients and doctors need to have a conversation about which medication is right for their health and well-being before beginning a new treatment. Hopefully, our study will help doctors better communicate the risks of weight gain to their patients and enable them to make more informed decisions about their treatment.