For thirty years, childhood obesity rates have been on the rise. Nearly one in three young people in the U.S. is overweight or obese. But on Tuesday, the front page of The New York Times reported some encouraging news: childhood obesity rates are dropping in some cities and states.

Over the last few years, places like Philadelphia, New York City, California, and even Mississippi have documented declines in their childhood obesity rates. As the Times noted, these downward trends “offer the first indication that the obesity epidemic, one of the nation’s most intractable health problems, may actually be reversing course.”

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When South Sudan became an independent country, it also became the eleventh country to share the world’s longest river, the Nile.  So many nations drawing from one source of water inevitably results in political and environmental complications. But a new book published by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF is a Burness client) last month argues that the Nile river has plenty of water to go around, and more than enough to support a vibrant agriculture sector.

Researchers—including hydrologists, economists, agriculturalists and social scientists—pooled their data and found that a stronger focus on on-farm water management approaches (rather than just large-scale irrigation schemes), coupled with better management policies and cooperation among countries, could provide the best path forward for the region’s 200 million people.

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Hurricane Sandy crashed into the northeast U.S. at the end of October, demonstrating the type of severe weather that climate change is expected to bring with increasing regularity.  At the same time, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)—a Burness client—released two research papers looking at how feeding the world contributes to global warming, and how agriculture in particular needs to be revamped as climate change continues to worsen.

The total emissions footprint of global food production—which includes up to 17,000 megatonnes of carbon dioxide—represents one- fifth to one-third of the greenhouse gases released by people on the planet. This figure includes every aspect of agriculture, pre-production, processing and distribution.

Many countries could make big cost savings by cutting these emissions, Bruce Campbell, CCAFS program director, told Reuters. "There are good economic reasons to improve efficiency in agriculture, not just to cut greenhouse gas emissions."

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 Whole genome sequencing—which provides a map of a person’s entire genetic makeup—has huge potential for improving medical care. Already, it is helping doctors diagnose mystery illnessesand treat cancer and rare diseases.

With access to more data, scientists will be able to uncover the gene variants linked to common diseases, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s, and develop new, targeted treatments and cures. People who get their whole genome sequenced will be able to find out what diseases they may be at risk for and begin to take preventative measures.

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