Yearly Archives: 2026

Stanford Medicine Research Suggests Health Warnings Could Reduce Youth Social Media Use

Pop-up health warnings highlighting the potential harms of social media, including mental health consequences, could encourage young people to reduce their social media use, according to a new Stanford Medicine study. An online experiment involving more than 1,000 teenagers and young adults also found that warning messages increased participants’ awareness of the potential risks associated with social media.

The research, published online Sept. 4 in JAMA Health Forum, was inspired by a 2024 call from then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, to introduce health warning labels for social media, similar to warnings used for tobacco, alcohol and other potentially harmful products. Since then, California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York have passed legislation requiring social media warnings, with California’s law scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Lead author Anna Grummon, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, said warning labels could be one of several strategies to encourage healthier social media habits. However, researchers have had limited evidence about what such warnings should say or whether different wording might influence their effectiveness. The study therefore examined which messages young people perceived as most likely to discourage social media use.

Researchers surveyed 1,012 participants, approximately half of whom were teenagers aged 13 to 17 and half young adults aged 18 to 29. They tested 14 social media warning messages and a control message unrelated to social media. The warnings addressed several potential health concerns, including addiction, negative body image, sleep disruption, depression, anxiety, overall mental health harms and the lack of evidence that social media is safe for young people.

Participants viewed the messages in random order, presented as though they were pop-ups on an Instagram page. They rated how much each message discouraged them from wanting to use social media and how much it increased their awareness of potential harms. Researchers also tested California’s legislated warning and a message encouraging users to take a screen-time break, similar to approaches already used by some social media platforms.

Overall, participants rated the health warnings as more effective than the control message. Most health-related warnings were also perceived as more effective than simply suggesting a screen-time break. Messages focusing on overall mental health harms, depression and anxiety received the strongest responses, suggesting that these topics may be particularly meaningful and relevant to young social media users.

The findings were also notably similar between teenagers and young adults. Senior author Thomas Robinson, MD, the Irving Schulman, MD, Professor in Child Health, said researchers had expected some differences because the digital environment changes rapidly and people only a few years apart may have different experiences with social media. Instead, both age groups consistently indicated that the warnings could discourage their social media use. California’s longer and more complex warning also performed relatively well compared with the other health warnings tested.

The researchers caution that the study measured participants’ perceptions and intentions rather than actual changes in social media use. The next step will be to determine whether well-designed warnings can produce meaningful behavioural changes in real-world settings. Although warning labels have been shown to influence behaviour with products such as tobacco and alcohol, social media presents different challenges because warnings would likely appear as recurring pop-up messages rather than permanent labels. Further research will be needed to determine how warnings should be worded, presented and timed to encourage healthier social media habits.

More information: Anna Grummon et al, Designing Social Media Health Warnings for Teenagers and Young Adults, JAMA Health Forum. DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.3014

Journal information: JAMA Health Forum Provided by Stanford Medicine

Taking a Dip in Rivers and Lakes May Increase Risk of Stomach Bugs and Rashes

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People swimming in rivers and lakes may face a greater risk of skin conditions and stomach bugs, according to a new study from the University of East Anglia. Researchers found that freshwater swimmers were more than twice as likely to develop skin problems. At the same time, higher levels of bacteria associated with faecal pollution were linked to an increased risk of gastrointestinal illness. The findings come as open-water swimming continues to grow in popularity and concerns about water quality increase.

The researchers analysed data from 2,368 volunteers who participated in a randomised controlled trial at four freshwater bathing sites in Hungary. Participants were randomly assigned either to swim for 10 minutes, including at least three full head immersions, or to remain on shore without entering the water. This allowed researchers to compare illness rates between swimmers and non-swimmers directly.

Prof Paul Hunter, who led the analysis, said swimmers were more than twice as likely to experience skin problems such as rashes, ulcers or itching compared with those who stayed dry. The risk of gastrointestinal illness also increased as levels of E. coli and certain viruses that infect bacteria in the human gut rose in the water, indicating greater faecal contamination.

Importantly, all four bathing sites met European bathing-water standards during the trial. Despite this, researchers still found a relationship between microbial contamination and illness. For every tenfold increase in E. coli concentration, the risk of gastrointestinal illness rose by about 73 per cent. Higher levels of somatic coliphages, viruses that infect bacteria, were associated with a 45 per cent increase in risk.

The researchers said E. coli and somatic coliphages may be better indicators of illness risk in rivers and lakes than intestinal enterococci, a group of bacteria emphasised in some international water-quality guidelines. They also suggested that freshwater and coastal waters may require different approaches to monitoring because bacterial indicators can behave differently in the two environments.

Skin complaints, meanwhile, increased among swimmers regardless of measured levels of faecal contamination. Prof Hunter said this could result from naturally occurring organisms rather than sewage pollution. One possibility is cercarial dermatitis, commonly known as “swimmer’s itch”, an itchy rash caused by parasites associated with waterfowl. Agricultural or industrial contaminants could also contribute to skin problems.

The findings could have implications for the UK, where open-water swimming has become increasingly popular, and sewage discharges into rivers and other waterways have generated public concern. Prof Hunter said the results were consistent across the four Hungarian locations, despite differences in water type and quality, and were also consistent with an earlier German study. This suggests the identified relationships could potentially apply to UK waters as well.

However, the researchers stressed that illness was relatively uncommon and generally mild and short-lived. Just over two per cent of participants developed gastrointestinal illness, while a similar proportion reported skin problems; respiratory, ear and eye infections were rare. The researchers concluded that monitoring E. coli and related microbial indicators remains important for protecting swimmers. The work formed part of Epibathe, a European collaboration investigating health risks associated with marine and freshwater recreational sites.

More information: Edward K.S. Lam et al, A Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing Infectious Disease Risks from Bathing in Inland Recreational Waters, International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2026.114888

Journal information: International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health Provided by University of East Anglia

Social Media: Uncovering the Bigger Picture

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As extreme heat becomes more frequent and intense across California, understanding which communities are most affected and what support they need is increasingly important for protecting public health. A new University of California, Irvine study suggests that everyday conversations on social media could provide valuable insights into how people experience and respond to extreme heat.

Researchers analysed 24,598 heat-related posts on Twitter, now X, from across California between 2016 and 2022. They found that where people lived, how they travelled and the resources available to them were associated with differences in how they discussed extreme heat, including its effects on daily life and the strategies they used to cope. The findings were published in Environmental Research Communications.

“Social media gives us another window into how people are experiencing heat in their daily lives,” said senior author Suellen Hopfer, associate professor of health, society and behaviour at UC Irvine. She said these insights could help public health officials understand who heat-safety messages are reaching, identify communication gaps and better support particularly vulnerable communities.

Rather than focusing only on temperatures or heat-related illnesses, the researchers examined posts describing coping strategies and the effects of heat on everyday activities. Coping strategies included staying hydrated, using air conditioning, visiting a pool or changing exercise times. In contrast, reported impacts included health concerns, disrupted work, cancelled activities, concerns about pets or plants and increased household expenses. These patterns were compared with county-level indicators involving income, housing, transportation and tree canopy.

The researchers also used a large language model to sort thousands of posts according to how people discussed heat. The model’s classifications were checked against posts manually categorised by the research team. Depending on the category, including heat impacts, coping strategies and other content, the model achieved accuracy ranging from 74 to 90 per cent, demonstrating the potential of automated language analysis for examining large volumes of social media conversations.

Some of the clearest differences involved housing. Counties with higher proportions of people living in RVs, vans or boats were 15 per cent less likely to have positive heat-related posts and had 22 per cent lower odds of posts discussing coping strategies. Because these types of housing may have poor insulation and become dangerously hot, the findings suggest that residents could benefit from targeted communication about indoor heat safety.

Transportation patterns revealed another potential vulnerability. Counties with larger percentages of residents who walked, cycled or used public transport to commute had substantially greater odds of negative heat-related posts and posts describing effects on daily life. Counties with larger Hispanic populations also showed a slightly higher likelihood of posts about heat’s impacts and a lower likelihood of posts discussing coping strategies. The researchers caution, however, that social media activity should not be considered a direct measure of population-level vulnerability.

The researchers see social media as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, established public health surveillance. Heat-related posting increased as average monthly temperatures rose, suggesting online conversations can capture experiences that conventional datasets may miss. Combined with information about housing, transportation and socioeconomic conditions, these signals could help officials develop more targeted warnings, practical guidance and longer-term strategies, moving beyond one-size-fits-all messaging towards interventions that reflect how different communities experience and cope with extreme heat.

More information: Nicolas Rodriguez Garcia et al, Online expressions of heat risk: social media posting and social vulnerability in California, Environmental Research Communications. DOI: 10.1088/2515-7620/ae9359

Journal information: Environmental Research Communications Provided by University of California – Irvine

Low Prices, Higher Health Risks? The Dollar Store Grocery Trade-Off

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Consumers may save money by buying groceries at dollar stores, but those savings could come with health trade-offs. New research from the University of California, Riverside has found an association between greater access to dollar store food and higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes across the United States.

The study, published in BMC Public Health, also found that greater access to traditional grocery stores was associated with better health outcomes. The relationships remained even after researchers accounted for socioeconomic factors such as income and unemployment. Despite their growing role as food retailers, dollar stores are classified by the U.S. Census as general merchandise outlets rather than grocery stores, meaning they are often overlooked in studies of food access and consumption.

“Higher grocery costs are pushing people to buy highly processed, lower quality food at dollar stores, and it is negatively impacting their health in a similar way to fast food,” said Ryan Bruellman, a UC Riverside doctoral student in genetics, genomics and bioinformatics and the study’s first author. Bruellman began the research out of an interest in unconventional places where Americans increasingly purchase groceries.

To investigate their potential health impact, Bruellman analysed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 500 Cities Project, which covers major metropolitan areas and cities across the continental United States. The study examined Dollar General, Dollar Tree, 99 Cents Only Stores and Family Dollar, which together represented about 34,000 locations. According to Bruellman, dollar stores now collectively outnumber traditional grocery stores across the country.

Using geographic information system software, Bruellman mapped the number of dollar stores and traditional grocery stores located within a 10-minute drive of residential areas. He then compared store accessibility with community health data and a social vulnerability index, which reflects socioeconomic challenges that can make it more difficult for residents to afford groceries and access other resources.

Dollar store access was significantly associated with poorer health outcomes across regions, although the strength of the relationship varied geographically. The effects were particularly notable in the South and Midwest, where dollar stores and traditional grocery stores were found in roughly equal proportions. Results also differed between individual cities. In Philadelphia, for example, the data did not fully capture bodegas and independent grocery stores, which may provide residents with additional food choices and reduce reliance on dollar stores.

Bruellman emphasised that the concern is not low prices themselves, but the nutritional quality of the foods commonly available at these outlets. Rather than reducing the number of dollar stores, he suggested improving the selection of healthier foods. Partnerships between dollar stores and local farmers, for example, could make fresh fruits and vegetables more readily available to customers who already depend on these stores for groceries.

Other approaches could include locating farmers’ markets and food banks closer to communities heavily served by dollar stores. Such measures could expand access to nutritious foods without removing an important source of affordable groceries. Ultimately, Bruellman hopes the findings will encourage policymakers and researchers to look beyond conventional supermarkets when considering food access and public health. “The overarching thing is we shouldn’t think of traditional grocery stores as the only places to get food. People need to look beyond that,” he said.

More information: Ryan Bruellman et al, Beyond proximity: how food quality in dollar and grocery stores influences health, BMC Public Health. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-28145-y

Journal information: BMC Public Health Provided by University of California – Riverside

Study Reveals Potential Downsides of Social Media Algorithms

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Social media algorithms have become highly effective at matching users’ viewing habits with personalised content, but new research suggests those recommendations may also be linked to mental health. Psychologists at The University of Texas at Dallas examined how algorithm-selected social media content relates to emotional processing in the brain and symptoms of depression.

The proof-of-concept study, published in Computers in Human Behavior, was led by Dr. Alva Tang, assistant professor of psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Researchers recruited 60 young adults with an average age of 20 and assessed them using validated measures of anxiety and depression before examining their responses to social media videos.

Participants watched two sets of videos. One consisted of personalised recommendations drawn from their own Instagram or TikTok accounts, while the other featured general trending videos. Researchers recorded participants’ brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG), focusing on frontal alpha asymmetry, a measure associated with emotional processing and motivation. Greater left-sided activity is generally associated with more positive emotional processing, while greater right-sided activity is linked to negative processing and withdrawal-related behaviour.

Unlike previous studies that have relied largely on surveys and self-reported social media habits, the researchers were able to examine emotional processing as participants viewed recommended content in real time. The study also accounted for overall screen time, allowing researchers to look beyond how long participants used social media and focus instead on what their algorithms showed them.

The results indicated that participants with more depressive symptoms tended to receive recommendations containing more depressive content. Their brain activity while viewing personalised recommendations also showed patterns associated with more negative emotional processing. Importantly, these patterns differed from participants’ responses when they watched generally trending videos, suggesting that personalised feeds may play a distinctive role in users’ emotional experiences.

Researchers described the findings as evidence of a potential feedback loop. A user who is already experiencing depressive symptoms may interact with certain types of content, leading the algorithm to recommend more material with similar emotional characteristics. Continued engagement with that content could then reinforce negative emotional responses. The researchers stressed that participants used their own phones and feeds, meaning the research team did not select the personalised videos they viewed.

Social relationships, including friendships and romantic relationships, were the most common subjects among videos recommended to the young adults. Participants with more depressive symptoms were more likely to encounter negative relationship content, such as arguments or conflicts, while viewing fewer positive relationship videos was associated with brain activity reflecting more negative emotional processing. The researchers noted that people experiencing depression may also be more inclined to focus on negative information while overlooking positive material.

The researchers hope the findings will encourage healthier and more deliberate social media habits rather than simply focusing on reducing screen time. They suggest users can influence their recommendations by following and interacting with positive content and limiting engagement with unwanted material. The team is now collecting data from teenagers aged 13 to 16 for a potential long-term study examining how algorithmic recommendations may affect emotional well-being over time.

More information: Carole Leung et al, Neural emotional processing of personally recommended short-video content and depressive symptoms, Computers in Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2026.109098

Journal information: Computers in Human Behavior Provided by University of Texas at Dallas

Extreme Heat and Cold Tied to Increased Heart Failure Hospitalisation Risk

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Short-term exposure to both cold and hot temperatures may increase the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure, according to a study published in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology, and presented simultaneously at ESC Congress 2026. The findings from Sweden highlight how temperature extremes may contribute to sudden worsening of heart failure and underscore the need for health systems to prepare for environmental stressors.

Researchers said the study addresses an important gap in understanding how extreme temperatures affect people with heart failure in Nordic countries. Sweden and other high-latitude regions experience frequent cold weather. Still, they are also facing increasing exposure to heat as the climate warms, potentially creating new health risks in populations less accustomed to high temperatures.

“To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has examined the short-term associations between extreme temperature events or continuous non-optimal ambient temperatures and heart failure hospitalisations within a Nordic population,” said lead author Wenli Ni, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The researchers analysed approximately 482,000 heart failure hospitalisations recorded in the Swedish National Patient Register between 2006 and 2021. Cold spells were defined as at least two consecutive days with daily temperatures at or below the fifth percentile between October and March. Heat waves were defined as temperatures at or above the 95th percentile between April and September, based on municipality-specific temperature distributions.

Cold spells were associated with an increased risk of heart failure hospitalisation two to six days after exposure, with the association reaching statistical significance between three and five days. Exposure to lower ambient temperatures was similarly linked to increased hospitalisation risk within three to six days, with the strongest evidence appearing three to five days after exposure.

Higher ambient temperatures showed a different pattern. Exposure to hotter temperatures was associated with an increased risk of heart failure hospitalisation within zero to three days, suggesting that heat may have a more immediate effect. However, the researchers found no significant association between formally defined heat waves and heart failure hospitalisation.

The different timing of cold- and heat-related risks could have implications for how health systems respond to weather conditions. The authors said the delayed increase in hospitalisations following cold exposure may support closer monitoring of vulnerable patients in the days after cold-weather alerts. At the same time, the more immediate effects associated with higher temperatures could require faster responses during periods of hot weather.

In an accompanying editorial, Tiantian Li, PhD, deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, argued that growing evidence on temperature-related cardiovascular risks should be translated into practical prevention strategies. “We can no longer practice cardiovascular medicine in a meteorological vacuum,” Li said, calling for stronger early-warning systems that can turn epidemiological evidence into timely action to protect people at cardiovascular risk.

More information: Wenli Ni et al, Cold Spells, Heat Waves, and Nonoptimal Air Temperature and Risk of Heart Failure Hospitalization in Sweden, Journal of the American College of Cardiology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2026.07.008

Journal information: Journal of the American College of Cardiology Provided by American College of Cardiology

Extreme Heat Connected to 33 Health Problems, Not Just Heat Stroke and Dehydration

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When temperatures soar, emergency physicians typically expect more cases of dehydration and heat stroke. But a new Northwestern University study suggests extreme heat is connected to a much broader range of health problems treated in emergency departments and urgent care clinics, including skin conditions, kidney problems, multiple sclerosis and injuries from traffic accidents.

The findings, published Aug. 26 in Science Advances, could help emergency departments and health care systems better prepare for heat waves, which are becoming more frequent with climate change. Heat-related illness can be difficult to track because medical records often document the condition being treated without indicating whether extreme temperatures may have contributed.

Researchers used an innovative approach inspired by methods from genomics research to examine 1,803 diagnoses across nearly 1 million emergency department and urgent care visits in Chicago between May and September from 2011 to 2023. They identified 33 diagnoses associated with extreme heat exposure, including several conditions that have received relatively little attention in previous heat-related health research.

“If we’re only tracking the more commonly known heat-related illnesses, we’ll underestimate the true heat-related health burden, which could result in vulnerable people and communities being overlooked,” said corresponding author Hyojung Jang, a Ph.D. candidate in biostatistics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She said protecting people and communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change is an important public health responsibility.

Among the diagnoses associated with extreme heat were skin rashes and swelling, acute kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, mental and behavioural disorders, insect bites and stings, traffic accidents, assault and firearm-related injuries. Co-author Daniel Horton said previous research has found that extreme heat can increase stress and aggressive behaviour, potentially contributing to accidents and other injuries.

Unlike earlier studies that typically began with predetermined conditions such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke or heart disease, the researchers used a data-driven approach adapted from genome-wide association studies. By linking clinical information from Chicago’s CAPriCORN data network with climate data according to location and time, the researchers were able to explore a much wider range of potential health effects.

Although the study focused only on Chicago, the researchers said the framework could be applied to other cities, states and countries. It could also be used with different types of health information, including death records and ambulance calls, potentially giving public health officials a more complete picture of how extreme temperatures affect communities.

The findings could also influence how cities prepare for increasingly severe heat. Chicago already uses a Heat Vulnerability Index to help identify neighbourhoods at greater risk and prioritize measures such as air-conditioning upgrades at park fieldhouses. Other proposed strategies include planting more trees, adding shade at bus stops, strengthening heat protections for outdoor workers and ensuring adequate cooling in apartments. Horton said that because extreme heat is associated with numerous health outcomes, reducing people’s exposure to dangerously high temperatures is critical.

More information: Hyojung Jang et al, Identifying heat-related diagnoses in emergency department visits among adults in Chicago: A heat-wide association study, Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aed3977

Journal information: Science Advances Provided by Northwestern University

Not Just About Hunger: Food Insecurity May Affect Brain Health in Later Life

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Older adults who experienced food insecurity in both midlife and later life had nearly four times the probability of probable dementia compared with those who remained food secure, according to new research from the University of Michigan. The findings suggest that food insecurity later in life may be particularly important to cognitive health.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found the strongest association among adults who experienced food insecurity in later life. In contrast, researchers found no significant association between food insecurity experienced only during midlife and probable dementia. While food insecurity is often viewed mainly as a problem of hunger and inadequate nutrition, researchers are increasingly examining its broader effects on health across the life course.

Researchers used longitudinal data from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest-running nationally representative household panel survey in the United States. Because the survey has followed families for decades, researchers were able to examine whether the timing of food insecurity was associated with cognitive health later in life.

“Not only can we now track the changes one family experiences, but by collecting this information for decades, we can also examine different parts of the life course,” said Noura Insolera, assistant research scientist at the Institute for Social Research. She noted that long-term data make it possible to investigate connections between experiences such as food insecurity and dementia risk many years later.

The study followed 2,051 adults and examined food insecurity during two periods: midlife, from 1999 to 2003, and later life, from 2015 to 2019. About 3% of participants experienced food insecurity only in midlife, 5.2% only in later life and 5% during both periods. The association with probable dementia was concentrated among those experiencing food insecurity in later adulthood.

Adults who experienced food insecurity during both periods had an estimated 40% probability of probable dementia, compared with 11% among those who remained food secure. Participants who experienced food insecurity only in later life also had a significantly higher estimated probability, at 34%. However, the researchers cautioned that the study cannot establish whether food insecurity directly contributes to dementia or whether other related factors help explain the association.

Food insecurity may affect health through several pathways. In addition to the physical consequences of inadequate nutrition, uncertainty about obtaining enough food can create significant psychological stress. Insolera said older adults facing financial pressures may sometimes choose to spend less on food in order to cover bills and other essential expenses. The combination of nutritional challenges and the stress associated with food insecurity could have broader consequences for health.

The findings highlight the importance of identifying and addressing food insecurity among older adults. Although health care providers increasingly screen patients for food insecurity, connecting people with effective assistance can be challenging. Insolera pointed to expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits provided during the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how government intervention can support families, suggesting that stronger food assistance programs could help address food insecurity and its potential long-term health consequences.

More information: Cindy W Leung et al, Associations between mid-life and later-life food insecurity on probable dementia in a national sample of United States adults, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101386

Journal information: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Provided by University of Michigan

Connecting People with Nature and Community May Reduce Loneliness

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Nature-based social prescribing may help reduce loneliness among adults living in socioeconomically vulnerable urban areas, according to a trial conducted in Barcelona by the European RECETAS consortium. The study found that loneliness declined among participants who received nature-based social prescribing, with those experiencing greater loneliness and poorer emotional wellbeing at the outset gaining more from a facilitated group programme. The findings suggest that support may be more effective when tailored to individual needs.

Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a significant public health concern because of its effects on physical and mental wellbeing. In Spain, about 20% of the population reports experiencing loneliness, while an estimated 100,000 people in Barcelona are affected. Social prescribing aims to address social and emotional needs by connecting people with activities and resources in their communities. Nature-based social prescribing extends this approach by encouraging participation in activities in parks, gardens and other natural spaces.

The EU-funded RECETAS project tested an intervention called Friends in Nature (FiN), which combines nature experiences with peer support and facilitated group activities. The programme aims to create opportunities for social connection while helping participants engage with their local natural environment and community.

Researchers recruited 320 adults experiencing loneliness from 12 socioeconomically vulnerable neighbourhoods in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Participants had a median age of about 63 years, and 80% were women. Half participated in FiN, attending two-hour weekly small-group sessions for nine weeks with trained facilitators. Activities included visits to parks, gardens, riverways, coastal areas and cultural heritage sites, alongside group discussions and peer support.

The other half received a 30-minute motivational interview and information about nature-based activities available in their neighbourhoods, which they could pursue independently. Across all participants, loneliness decreased by an average of 10.5% after three months and by 16.8% after one year. However, researchers found no significant difference in loneliness between the two groups after three months and no significant changes in health-related quality of life.

Further analysis showed that participants’ circumstances at the beginning of the study influenced how much they benefited from the different approaches. Those experiencing greater loneliness and poorer emotional wellbeing gained more from the facilitated FiN groups. Participants with lower levels of loneliness and better emotional wellbeing experienced comparable improvements from the lighter approach involving an interview and information about local activities.

The findings suggest that a single approach may not work equally well for everyone. People facing greater social and emotional difficulties may benefit from structured peer support, group activities and trained facilitators. In contrast, others may need only assistance identifying opportunities to connect with nature and their communities. The Barcelona findings also differed from a RECETAS trial in Helsinki involving frail older adults in assisted-living facilities, where FiN produced greater reductions in loneliness and improvements in several aspects of health-related quality of life.

Researchers noted that the Barcelona study included mostly women and had a median participant age of around 63, which may limit how broadly the results apply to younger adults and men. Nevertheless, the findings highlight the potential of nature-based social prescribing to strengthen social health in urban communities. By bringing people together through shared experiences in natural spaces, these programmes may help people develop relationships, participate more actively in their communities and strengthen feelings of belonging, purpose and connection.

More information: Laura Coll-Planas et al, Effectiveness of a nature-based social prescribing intervention on loneliness and health-related quality of life among vulnerable urban adults (RECETAS-BCN): an observer-blinded randomised controlled trial, The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101821

Journal information: The Lancet Regional Health – Europe Provided by Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)

New Mothers May Need Time Before Feeling Ready to Care for Their Baby

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The first days after childbirth bring major physical and emotional changes. Although rooming-in, where mothers and newborns remain together around the clock, is standard practice in many maternity wards, not every new mother feels ready to care for her baby independently immediately after delivery. A new study suggests that this sense of readiness depends less on physical recovery than on a mother’s emotional well-being.

Researchers from Wroclaw Medical University investigated the factors that influence how prepared women feel to care for their newborns. Published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, the study found that psychological factors, particularly anxiety and the ability to cope with difficult emotions, were more strongly associated with maternal readiness than postpartum pain or normal physiological changes following childbirth.

The study included 200 women in a maternity ward 48 to 72 hours after giving birth. Participants rated how ready they felt to care for their newborn independently during the day and at night, as well as their readiness to breastfeed. Researchers also examined pain, anxiety, mood, social support, psychological flexibility and postpartum changes in blood parameters to determine which factors were most closely linked to perceived readiness.

The findings suggest that readiness for newborn care involves much more than practical skills, physical health or previous parenting experience. Instead, it reflects whether a woman feels that she has sufficient physical and emotional resources to care for her baby independently at that particular moment. The researchers emphasised that feeling unready should not be interpreted as a measure of a mother’s competence or parenting ability.

Anxiety emerged as one of the strongest factors. Women with higher anxiety levels on the second day after childbirth reported feeling significantly less ready to care for their newborn independently and to breastfeed. Psychological flexibility, or the ability to function effectively despite uncomfortable thoughts, emotions or physical sensations, was also important. By comparison, postpartum pain and the normal decline in haemoglobin levels appeared to have much less influence on perceived readiness.

The researchers also found that readiness to breastfeed and readiness for independent newborn care were related but distinct. Women who felt prepared to breastfeed generally reported greater readiness for newborn care, but being motivated or prepared to breastfeed did not necessarily mean feeling capable of providing around-the-clock care. Some mothers may therefore feel confident about feeding their baby while still needing additional assistance with other aspects of newborn care.

The findings could have practical implications for maternity care. Rather than assuming that childbirth automatically means a woman is ready for 24-hour newborn care, healthcare professionals could briefly assess anxiety levels and ask mothers how prepared they feel. The study also found that women were more likely to report high readiness during the daytime than at night, suggesting that nighttime care may be particularly demanding and that some mothers could benefit from additional support during these hours.

The researchers argue that postpartum care should be more individualised and responsive to mothers’ changing needs. Simple conversations about emotional well-being and perceived readiness could help identify women who need extra assistance, while practical guidance from midwives and lactation consultants may help build confidence. Because readiness can differ considerably between women and may change from day to day, rooming-in and other postpartum practices should take both physical recovery and emotional well-being into account.

More information: Anna Prokopowicz et al, Maternal Readiness for Newborn Self-Care in the Early Postpartum Period: Associations with Maternal Psychophysical State and Declared Breastfeeding Readiness, Journal of Clinical Medicine. DOI: 10.3390/jcm15124522

Journal information: Journal of Clinical Medicine Provided by Wroclaw Medical University

Longer Gaps Between Meals Linked to Faster Disease Accumulation in Older Adults

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Older adults who typically went longer between meals accumulated chronic diseases more rapidly over time than those who had shorter meal intervals, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. The association was particularly strong among adults aged 78 years and older.

Interest in fasting and meal timing has grown considerably in recent years, with some research exploring their potential effects on metabolism and health. However, much of this research has focused on younger and middle-aged adults, leaving uncertainty about whether longer periods without food have similar associations with health in later life.

To investigate, researchers examined whether the longest interval between meals during a typical day was associated with the rate at which older adults accumulated chronic diseases. The study focused on multimorbidity, or the presence of multiple chronic health conditions, which becomes increasingly common as people age.

The researchers analysed data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). The study included 2,981 people living in Stockholm who were aged 60 years or older when the research began. Participants were followed for up to 15 years, allowing researchers to track changes in their health and the development of chronic conditions over an extended period.

Participants provided information about the times they typically ate during a 24-hour period, which researchers used to estimate the duration of their longest daily interval between meals. The analysis found that longer gaps were associated with a faster accumulation of chronic diseases over time. Those whose longest daily interval between meals ranged from 14 to 24 hours accumulated diseases more rapidly than participants whose longest interval was between six and 11.5 hours.

The association was not limited to overall disease burden. Longer meal intervals were also linked to a faster accumulation of cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, researchers did not find the same association for musculoskeletal diseases, suggesting that the relationship between meal timing and health may vary depending on the type of chronic condition.

“Much of the research on fasting has been conducted in younger or middle-aged populations. Our findings suggest that the associations may be different in older adults, particularly among the oldest age groups,” said Adrián Carballo Casla, the study’s last author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet. The findings were especially pronounced among participants aged 78 and older, highlighting the importance of studying meal patterns specifically in older populations.

The researchers cautioned that the findings show an association rather than a cause-and-effect relationship. The study cannot establish that longer periods between meals directly caused participants to accumulate chronic diseases more quickly, or whether other health, lifestyle or behavioural factors contributed to the observed pattern. Nevertheless, the results suggest that findings about fasting in younger populations may not necessarily apply to older adults and that age should be carefully considered when examining the potential health effects of meal timing.

More information: Luis Kalmbach et al, Habitual fasting duration and accelerated multimorbidity in older adults, Journal of Internal Medicine. DOI: 10.1111/joim.70150

Journal information: Journal of Internal Medicine Provided by Karolinska Institutet

Digital Wellness Program Supports Better Mental Health for Adults with Chronic Conditions

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A digital wellness program combining guided movement, breathing and meditation exercises, coping-skills training and health education can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in adults living with chronic medical conditions, according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine. The research was led by Dr. Puneeta Tandon of the University of Alberta and colleagues.

More than half of adults with chronic physical conditions experience anxiety, depression or fatigue, which can significantly affect their quality of life. Yet access to effective support can be limited by mobility challenges, geography, cost and shortages of trained clinicians. Researchers say digital programs could provide a more accessible way to help people manage these common symptoms from home.

The researchers conducted a fully remote randomized controlled trial involving 825 adults across 13 countries. Participants had chronic medical conditions including primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), chronic digestive diseases, cirrhosis and heart failure. They were assigned to a waitlist control group, a self-directed digital program called eMPower, or the same program supplemented by weekly telephone check-ins from trained non-clinicians.

Over 12 weeks, eMPower provided participants with guided movement, breathing and meditation exercises, coping strategies and disease education. Participants who received the program with telephone support showed significantly greater improvements in anxiety and depression than those in the control group. They also reported better quality of life and reduced fatigue.

Exploratory analyses found that participants using the self-directed program also experienced significant improvements compared with the control group. Researchers found no significant difference between the self-directed and telephone-supported versions, although the study was not designed to determine whether the two approaches were equally effective. The finding suggests that digital programs may potentially reach more people without requiring individual support for every participant.

“Rather than developing separate digital programs for each condition, a single cross-condition approach with tailoring for disease-specific education is effective in addressing shared symptoms,” the researchers said. Tandon noted that while these strategies do not replace medication or professional mental health care when needed, they can provide people living with chronic illness with practical tools they can use at home.

The fully online design also helped researchers include people who might otherwise face difficulties participating in clinical research. The average participant was 56 years old, nearly one-quarter were over 65, and 84 per cent completed the 12-week follow-up. First author Emily Johnson said the online approach helped reach people experiencing severe fatigue or mobility limitations, those living far from specialist centres and those unable to accommodate additional appointments.

The researchers noted that the study primarily involved women with higher levels of education and followed participants for only 12 weeks, meaning its longer-term effects and applicability to broader populations remain uncertain. However, patient representatives welcomed the results. Gail Wright, President of the Canadian PBC Society, said the program produced meaningful improvements in fatigue and quality of life among people with PBC, highlighting the potential for evidence-based self-management programs to complement medical treatment for chronic conditions.

More information: Emily Johnson et al, Effect of a digital intervention on mental health symptoms in adults with chronic conditions: A three-arm randomized controlled trial, PLOS Medicine. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1005198

Journal information: PLOS Medicine Provided by PLOS