Population Health News, February 2026

Health Equity and Disparities

US life expectancy has a problem: In Dr. Jennifer Dowd’s Substack, read about how life expectancy in the US poorer than it should be, and what we should do to improve it (hint: It’s not the seed oils.) (Jenn Dowd Substack, January 29, 2026)

Inflammation is a plausible disparity mechanism: Stress and resulting inflammation could be one driver of mortality disparities between Black and White populations. (JAMA Network Open, January 26, 2026)

State-level differences in kids’ mental health care access: Where a child lives affects their ability to access mental healthcare, with high rates of unmet needs in Utah and worse difficulty in accessing care in Texas, for example. (Public Health Post, January 16, 2026)

Environmental & Climate Health and Justice

Old lead in bones linked to dementia risk:  Cumulative exposure to lead as stored in the bones — though not the current lead level in blood — was linked to an increased risk of dementia. “Most adults in the study were born before 1980, during an era of much higher environmental lead exposure from leaded gasoline and paint.” (University of Michigan Public Health News Center, February 12, 2026, citing an article in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association)

Lead found in half of playgrounds in New Orleans: Even New Orleans parks that underwent lead mediation in 2011 still contain unsafe levels of lead. The lead is showing up in kids’ blood tests. (Grist, February 13, 2026)

Built Environments, Spaces, and Places

Will community health centers survive?: Community health centers face many financial threats, including changes to drug reimbursements and cuts to Medicaid and ACA subsidies. (GBH public media, February 2, 2026)

Super Bowl ads reflect Big Tech determinants of health: Ads that promoted reducing state car insurance premiums and boosting Instacart and Grubhub subtly affect other public health issues, such as safe streets, worker rights, and compensation to car crash victims. (StreetsBlogNYC, February 10, 2026)

Policy and Programs

The impacts of the U.S. retreating from global health: The Trump administration is reducing the United States’ role in global health, including cutting off WHO, ending USAID, and more. This interview with Harvard’s Vanessa Kerry discusses what could be lost in the wake of these policies. (Living On Earth, audio, January 30, 2026) 

Current DHHS leadership has been a “wrecking ball” for public health: Attacks on vaccines, program cuts, firings and rehirings, database problems, and vacant positions are among the factors affecting public health. (American Public Health Association’s Public Health Newswire, The Nation’s Health, February 10, 2026)

Inequities could become worse with new vaccine schedule: Vaccine disparities already existed for children of color, poor kids, and rural kids, but the newly reduced vaccine schedule could make these disparities worse. Some states are stepping up to close the gap. (The Nation’s Health, APHA, February/March 2026)

Book Spotlight

In Humanizing Public Health: How Disease-Centered Approaches Have Failed Us, Dr. Perry N. Halkitis urges us to move beyond biological approaches and look to a more holistic approach to prevent pandemics. Dr. Halkitis discusses lessons from HIV and COVID-19 pandemics “to reimagine public health education, preparedness, and equity.” (Preorder now for release on May 5, 2026, Johns Hopkins University Press)