Dolores Wolongevicz, PhD is the Simmons Associate Professor of Practice & the Director of the Health Professions Education Program. 

Read our highlights below and find the full conversation here. 

What are the top 3 or so nutrition oriented public health challenges that MPH students should consider or get involved in?

In my view, I would say nutrition security, food security and climate change, as well as US nutrition policy which I mentioned earlier. 

Nutrition security and food security are related, but they do have key differences. Food security, as originally defined by the Life Sciences Research Office, exists when there is, as they say, access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum, one, the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and, two, an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. So, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing or other coping strategies. Nutrition security, on the other hand, exists in combination with food security and other social determinants of health, including healthcare access, housing and other basic human needs such as clean water and a clean environment.

Where might climate change fit into this? 

Climate change threatens agriculture. Changes in temperature, precipitation, water supply, extreme weather put our food supply at risk causing reduced food availability and access to food, as well as impaired food quality. And, according to the United Nations, our current food systems, from what we eat to how we produce our food, are a large part of the problem, contributing about one third of greenhouse gas emissions.

How do you think MPH students might consider the inequity of access to nutrition education, fresh fruits and vegetables (and more) between the socioeconomic classes?

This is a great question. I do think that there are multi-level, interconnected factors that are impacting nutrition and food systems, particularly among historically marginalized and low-income groups. A systematic review by Sawyer et al. immediately comes to mind. They developed an evidence-based systems map that clearly illustrates the dynamics of how, dare I say, a "toxic" food environment promotes the 4 A’s of consuming unhealthy foods (availability, accessibility, acceptability, affordability) which ultimately leads to over-consumption of ultra-processed, high calorie, high fat, high sodium, nutrient-poor foods. The system underlying the food environment was largely interpreted through an economic lens of supply and demand with five sub-systems; geographical accessibility, household finances, household resources, individual influences and social/cultural influences, directly influencing poor dietary intake.