The Wellness MoonshotTM The GWI’s Wellness MoonshotTM: A World Free of Preventable Disease is a global call to action. And new research from Harvard University indicates that tackling the world’s obesity crisis may have much to do with mothers. The large study found that if mothers follow five healthy habits—exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, consuming moderate levels of alcohol,…
Women who work long hours appear to be at increased risk for diabetes. In a new study by Canadian researchers analyzing 7,065 workers over 12 years, they found that compared to women who worked 35–40 hours a week, those who worked 45 hours or more had a 51 percent increased risk of diabetes. But there was no effect of working hours on diabetes for men.…
Monthly Barometer Paul Polman (Unilever’s CEO) recently confessed: “Our biggest threat is that we lose connection with millennials.” Emmanuel Faber (Danone’s CEO) echoes Polman’s concerns: “Millennials want committed brands with authentic products. Natural, simpler, and if possible small, as small as you can.” Millennials, who are now coming of age and approaching their peak earning years, are going to reshape consumption into a much more…
The recent suicides of two celebrities—the fashion designer Kate Spade and the chef, author and TV host Anthony Bourdain—have drawn attention to new federal data showing a rise in the number of suicides across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates rose by 25 percent between 1999 and 2016. In 2016, 45,000 Americans aged 10 or older…
In past Briefs, we’ve discussed the critical importance of sleep for wellbeing (and conversely of the way in which sleep deprivation negatively impacts mental and physical health). In our real-time economy, where consumer businesses strive to meet the 24-hour demand for their services and manufacturers, the number of people working night shifts is increasing and, with this, so is the number of aggregate sleepless nights.…
The GWI’s Digital Wellness Initiative just released a new research paper: Wellness in the Age of the Smartphone. The authors, leaders from medicine, hospitality, economics and technology, examine the mounting research on how technology is negatively impacting sleep, obesity, mental health, relationships, safety and productivity. Smartphones may only be a decade old, but their increasingly profound impact on human life and culture, they argue, needs to be a greater research and policy focus. They suggest ways forward…
