Patti Neighmond
Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
Based in Los Angeles, Neighmond has covered health care policy since April 1987. She joined NPR's staff in 1981, covering local New York City news as well as the United Nations. In 1984, she became a producer for NPR's science unit and specialized in science and environmental issues.
Neighmond has earned a broad array of awards for her reporting. In 1993, she received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of health reform. That same year, she received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for a story on a young quadriplegic who convinced Georgia officials that she could live at home less expensively and more happily than in a nursing home. In 1990, Neighmond won the World Hunger Award for a story about healthcare and low-income children. She received two awards in 1989: a George Polk Award for her powerful ten-part series on AIDS patient Archie Harrison, who was taking the anti-viral drug AZT; and a Major Armstrong Award for her series on the Canadian health care system. The Population Institute, based in Washington, DC, has presented its radio documentary award to Neighmond twice: in 1988 for "Family Planning in India" and in 1984 for her coverage of overpopulation in Mexico. Her 1987 report "AIDS and Doctors" won the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism, and her two-part series on the aquaculture industry earned the 1986 American Association for the Advancement of Science Award.
Neighmond began her career in journalism in 1978, at the Pacifica Foundation's DC bureau, where she covered Capitol Hill and the White House. She began freelance reporting for NPR from New York City in 1980. Neighmond earned her bachelor's degree in English and drama from the University of Maryland, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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Only one quarter of young teens are getting enough exercise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Organized sports often aren't enough to meet that hour a day goal. But parents can help by building more activity into family life. -
A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that nearly 1 in 5 Latinos say diabetes is the major health concern for themselves and their family. In East Los Angeles, where obesity and diabetes are common, community activists are committed to turning the problem around. -
There's evidence that many standard treatments for back pain — including surgery, spinal injections and painkillers — are often ineffective and can even worsen and prolong the problem. -
More and more people are using sleeping pills, but they can have side effects, including dangerous drowsiness the next morning. Sleep specialists say the best way to get a good night's sleep is to have a sleep routine, including going to bed at the same time each night. -
The notoriously short night's sleep that many tired adolescents get isn't all about surging hormones and too much homework, according to a sociologist who looked at shifting sleep patterns from ages 12 to 15. Teens who report good relationships with family and schoolmates tend to sleep better. -
Teenagers say their parents often don't realize how overwhelmed they feel about school. Psychologists say parents can help children manage their expectations and live a more balanced life, even if it means not racking up as high a GPA as their friends. -
These days teenagers shun milk and reach for the energy drinks. That doesn't bode well for their bones, since most of the adult skeleton is built between ages 9 and 14. Calcium and vitamin are crucial, but perhaps the most surprising ingredient for strong bones is exercise. -
Glucosamine and chondroitin have been popular supplements for arthritis for years. But clinical trials in humans haven't shown that they're any better than sugar pills at reducing pain. Some doctors say that if placebos or supplements help people exercise and lose weight, then that's OK. -
It smells like vinegar and tastes like spoiled cider. But fans of the fermented tea say that kombucha helps fight off diseases and aging. Sounds fantastical? Well, it probably is. At this point, scientists still know little about kombucha's health effects. -
If obesity were a disease, would you be more likely to seek medical help because insurance would pay for treatment? Or would you feel stigmatized and just give up? That's the debate surrounding increased efforts to classify obesity as a disease.
