A new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research evaluated the effectiveness of Inner Dragon, a multifaceted game embedded within the Smoke Free smoking cessation app that prompts users to care for a customizable pet dragon, whose growth reflects the person’s progress towards quitting smoking. The game also encourages use of smoking cessation tools within the app. Among the study participants who had access to Inner Dragon, overall engagement with the Smoke Free app increased by 20 percent compared to those who did not have access to the game, and direct use of the app’s smoking cessation tools increased by a notable 30 percent. 

A Stanford-led study of 25 video interventions points to solutions for reducing polarization, anti-democratic attitudes and support for political violence. Two treatments submitted by University of Utah scholars showed most promise addressing all three of these divisive outcomes.

Early-life sugar restriction – beginning in utero – can protect against diabetes and hypertension later in life, according to a new study leveraging data from post-World War II sugar rationing in the United Kingdom. The findings highlight critical long-term health benefits from reduced sugar intake during the first 1000 days of life. The first 1000 days from conception – from gestation until age 2 – is a critical period for long-term health. Poor diet during this window has been linked to negative health outcomes in adulthood. Despite dietary guidelines recommending zero added sugar in early life, high sugar exposure is common in the U.S. through maternal diet in utero, breastfeeding, and infant formula and solids. What’s more, research suggests that most infants and toddlers consume sweetened foods and beverages daily. To study the long-term health impacts of early sugar consumption, Tadeja Gracner and colleagues leveraged a natural experiment in the U.K.: the end of a decade-long sugar and sweets rationing following World War II in 1953. During rationing, the sugar allowance was comparable to today’s dietary guidelines, including those for pregnant women and young children. However, the end of ratioing led to an immediate, nearly twofold increase in sugar consumption almost overnight. Using U.K. Biobank data on people who were or were not exposed to sugar rationing in utero and early life, Gracner et al. found that early-life exposure to sugar rationing had notable long-term health benefits. According to the findings, people's risk of developing diabetes and hypertension decreased by about 35% and 20%, respectively, and the onset of these diseases was delayed by 4 and 2 years. The protective effect was most pronounced for those exposed to restricted sugar both in utero and postnatally, with in-utero exposure alone accounting for roughly one-third of the risk reduction. The effect was further amplified after 6 months of age, likely coinciding with the introduction of solid foods.

An analysis of social media posts that mention food and beverage products finds that fast food restaurants and sugar sweetened beverages are the most common, with millions of posts reaching billions of users over the course of a year. The study, published in the open access journal PLOS Digital Health, highlights the sheer volume of content normalising unhealthy eating, and argues that policies are needed to protect young people in the digital food environment.

University of Washington research found that when ranking resumes three state-of-the-art large language models favored white-associated names 85% of the time, female-associated names only 11% of the time, and never favored Black male-associated names over white male-associated names.