About Me
I am a physician and behavioral scientist. My research and writing explore the quirks in human nature that influence our lives -- the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness, and the way our society functions. (more...)- Have a question or just want to get in touch? Email me at peter.ubel@duke.edu
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Tag Archives: public health
Where You Live in America Determines When You Die
Shutterstock Debates over income inequality divide liberals and conservatives. In the last few decades, income inequality has soared in the U.S. In the 1950s, the top 1% of Americans brought home about a tenth of the country’s income. By 2012, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged public health
Got a Big Belly? (Why Big Sugar Is to Blame)
Photo Credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images Growing up Republican, I have long believed in personal responsibility. In junior high school, when I observed close relatives who struggled with obesity, I vowed to never let myself get out of shape. (“Junior high” … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged obesity, public health
HIV – The Epidemic Isn’t Over
We have great medications to treat HIV infections today, but the best medicine is to not need medicine – to not get infected in the first place. But according to an article in JAMA, HIV transmission is rising among gay … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged HIV, public health
Hookup or Hookah?
I have two teenage boys. So of course I’m worried about them skipping the dating scene and engaging in “hookups.” That seems to be what kids do these days. But now, do I also have to worry about them engaging … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged public health
The Harms of Believing in Exercise
Can beliefs make you fat? The answer to this question might seem pretty obvious. If I believe that the best way to lose weight is to super-size five meals a day at McDonald’s, while consuming bags of Doritos to tide … Continue reading
Posted in Health & Well-being
Tagged obesity, public health
Cigarette Smoking Is So 1970!
I have two reasons for showing you this picture, illustrating the decline in cigarette sales in Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland and the US over the past few decades. First, to show you the decline in cigarette sales in Germany, France, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged public health
Calling Obesity A Disease Dooms Dieters
In June of 2013, the American Medical Association officially recognized obesity as a disease. The organization had its reasons. For starters, obesity leads to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, early-onset degenerative arthritis…and just about every other illness on the planet. In … Continue reading
Posted in Health & Well-being, Health Policy
Tagged obesity, public health
Do You Know How Many Calories Are in Your Burrito?
Here’s a new study I conducted with Peggy Liu, Jim Bettman, and Arianna Uhalde on calorie range information. Check it out below. Liu, Peggy J., James R. Bettman, Arianna R. Uhalde, and Peter A. Ubel (forthcoming), “How Many Calories Are … Continue reading
Posted in Behavioral Economics and Public Policy
Tagged behavioral economics, obesity, public health
When Physicians Pay Attentions to Costs, They Promote Public Health!
This week, my good friend Reshma Jagsi and I published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which we explain why physicians are doing their job, as physicians, when they pay attention to healthcare costs. Here is a … Continue reading
Posted in Health Policy
Tagged healthcare costs, public health
Should Our Government Combat the Obesity Epidemic?
Here is video from a talk I recently gave at the University of Wisconsin, laying out a few of the reasons I think the government needs to play a role in combating the obesity epidemic. If you dig further into … Continue reading
Posted in Health & Well-being, Health Policy
Tagged health policy, obesity, public health