Chris Tait at the 2017 International Diabetes Epidemiology Group Conference
The Award
Our very own Christopher Tait was awarded with the Best Oral Presentation at the 15th Symposium of the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group, held between December 8 and 10, 2017 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. During the conference session, Tait presented his doctoral work examining the role of obesity in explaining the relationship between food security and incident type 2 diabetes.
Christopher’s Research
Chris’ abstract, presented at the conference, concerns the insufficient attention given to understanding the upstream social determinants that influence diabetes risk. So too with food insecurity, which has been increasing among the Canadian population, and, though identified as a significant social problem, is traditionally excluded from health research.
The Study’s Importance
Chris’ work tackles the ways in which cross-sectional studies linking food insecurity and diabetes risk factors fail to establish the direction (causal or reverse-causal) of the relationship between the two. Chris’ study is the first to estimate this association in a longitudinal population-based cohort study. Also, his results challenge the reverse-causation hypothesis that cross-sectional studies could not definitively debunk. Finally, Chris proposes household-level intervention as a means of combating long term diabetes risk.