Susan H. Babey, PhD, is a co-director of the Chronic Disease Research Program and a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research as well as an associate researcher in the Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research focuses primarily on the prevention of chronic health conditions. She has examined the social and environmental determinants of health, health disparities, and access to care for vulnerable populations.
Babey is currently leading research examining the links between health and civic engagement; access to care for physically, socially, and financially vulnerable populations, including sexual minorities, immigrants, and those who rely on public programs for food and medical care; and is also engaged in research involving disaggregating race/ethnicity data. Other recent projects include a qualitative study identifying barriers to care experienced by those with metastatic breast cancer, an evaluation of place-based obesity prevention strategies for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and research that produced state and county-level modeled estimates of the prevalence of prediabetes in California.
Babey has served as a member of the following committees: the Physical Activity Technical Advisory Committee for the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and the Strategic Growth Council; the Adolescent Technical Advisory Committee and the Child Technical Advisory Committee for the California Health Interview Survey; the California Obesity Prevention Evaluation Task Force for the California Obesity Prevention Program, California Department of Public Health; the Steering Committee for the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Health Impact Assessment conducted by Community Health Councils; the Active Transportation Expert Panel meeting convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the Policy Subcommittee of the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness.
Prior to joining the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Babey was an adjunct assistant professor in the Psychology Department at the University of West Florida. Babey earned her doctorate in psychology from UC Santa Barbara with a special area focus on social psychology.
Summary: Type 2 diabetes has raised great public health concerns due to its association with the increased risk of several adverse health outcomes. Authors aimed to investigate the association of criteria air pollutants and traffic density with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and antidiabetic medication use in California.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data, linked with criteria air pollutant exposure measures, including government...
Approximately 45% of noncitizens without legal permanent resident status experience food insecurity, according to the report.
The report also breaks down percentages of people experiencing food insecurity by age group, with 42% of noncitizens without legal permanent resident status age 50 and older, 46% of those 27 to 49 years old, 36% of those 18 to 26 years old and 64% of children under 17 being affected.
Susan Babey, a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, said while it is important to address food insecurity, it is also important to remember that a lack of nutritious food is linked to other physical and mental health outcomes, especially developmentally for children.
The starkest finding from the brief is that 60% of noncitizen children without legal permanent resident status are experiencing food insecurity, she said. She added that children typically have the highest rates of food insecurity and poverty in all populations, not just among noncitizens without legal permanent resident status.