Lorenzo Nava, a 2015 DNP grad, has earned a Fulbright Scholarship to study a startling spike in obesity in South Korea, a nation whose traditional cuisine is pointed to as a weight-loss miracle in parts of the West.
“South Korea has changed so quickly since the Korean War,” explains Nava, “from a developing nation into a very rich nation so fast.” Part of that change, he says, has included moving away from a diet that had kept the nation’s obesity and cardiovascular disease statistics among the lowest in the world. Out were plentiful vegetables and very little meat. In were Western-type foods—breads, more meats, and in larger portions. Success went to the nation’s waistline.
Nava sees South Korea as a harbinger of what could happen to other rapidly developing countries if nothing is done. “We want to find ways to help cultures thrive economically without the health consequences that can come along with it.”
“Two things attracted me to the DNP at Hopkins: One, the amazing people who I knew would also be attracted to the program,” Nava says. “Meeting and collaborating with these great minds has been very rewarding. Second was the emphasis on the practicality of what we would be doing.”
