Nicholas Freudenberg

Synthesizes and summarizes 25 years of scientific evidence and findings from 108 empirical studies and 19 systematic and scoping reviews of unhealthy food marketing to adolescents (aged 13 to 17) and young adults (aged 18 to 25). Findings show that most studies show harmful effects of such exposure especially on Black, Latine and low-income young people.

Examines how social movements and health activist campaigns can modify the corporate structures, systems and practices that harm health and how public health professionals and researchers can bring these powerful new voices into public health policy.

Examines the cumulative impact of unmet essential needs for food, housing or health care on indicators of college attrition in a representative sample of 1833 students attending one of three urban public colleges in the Bronx. More unmet needs predict more academic problems.

Reviews how public health scholars have portrayed anxiety over the years, summarizing evidence on the social determinants of anxiety, its public health consequences, and public health interventions to address the deeper causes of recent rises in anxiety.

Summarizes the lessons two leading public health scholars and activists have learned from their efforts, separately and together, to integrate research, teaching and activism in their practice.

Defines the concept of commercial determinants of health, proposes a framework for its study and explains why corporate influences on health have become a major cause of global patterns of health and disease.

Examines lessons on restoring food security extracted from analyses of prior responses to natural and human-made disasters and assesses their relevance for responses to covid pandemic.

Identities strategies for assessing the role of market actors and market forces on patterns of health and disease across nations, business sectors and time.

Assesses the impact of the covid pandemic and its economic consequences on the physical and mental health, food security and financial stability of students at the City University of New York.

Analyzes how changes in 21st century capitalism have contributed to premature deaths and preventable illnesses across countries and business sectors and explores roles of social movements, governments, and others in creating healthier, more equitable and sustainable alternatives. 

Suggests six unifying goals for a broad based alliance that can change those elements of 21st century capitalism most associated with global public health crises.

Analyzes how corporate use of power influences health and the global politics that shape health.

Examines the intersecting roles of characteristics of people, products, and food industry practices in making ultra-processed food, a leading cause of premature death and preventable illness, so appealing.

Describes academic, health and other challenges facing City University of New York students who are also parents of young children.

Shows some of the strategies that have been used to challenge patents on HIV treatment and prevention drugs both in the U.S. and globally. Reviews several case studies of efforts to overturn patents, with the hope that we can glean lessons from these cases to inform efforts to improve access to generic COVID-19 treatment and prevention medicines and technologies.

Provides an overview of history and policies influencing college students’ enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and suggests strategies for strengthening SNAP’s capacity to reduce food insecurity and hunger in this population.

Bases on New York City Food Metrics Reports, mandated by the City Council since 2012, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s reporting on its food programs and policies and suggests ways to make these reports more useful for achieving a more equitable and efficient food system.

Describes several food initiatives launched in Central Brooklyn by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and assesses their impact on food access, quality, and affordability