Health Promotion/Disease Prevention
Researchers in the Department of Nutritional Sciences study three areas of health promotion and disease prevention:
- Communication and Education - Researchers look at strategies to communicate nutrition messages to groups and/or individuals and atthe effectiveness of these strategies.
- Epidemiological and Population Science - Researchers look at dietary intake patterns in children and adults in America and beyond. From these patterns, assessments are made about relationships between diet and health.
- Food Behavior - Researchers look at methods to quantify food behavior and how internal regulators impact food intake.
Communication and Education
Dr. Probart is Principal Investigator of Project PA, an eight-year nutrition education campaign for school personnel in Pennsylvania. The overall goal of this project, which is a collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, is establishing healthy school nutrition environments.
Contact faculty member is Dr. Claudia Probart.
Faculty who do communication and education research include:
Epidemiological and Population Science
Americans are consuming larger portions of soda, beer and coffee.
Comparing food intake data collected first from 1989-1991 and then 1994-1996, it has been found that Americans are consuming larger portions of soda, beer and coffee. These larger portions could be linked to obesity and lower intakes of calcium.
Contact faculty member is Dr. Terryl Hartman.
Faculty who do epidemiology/population science research include:
Food Behavior
On the left, is one portion of French fries, as defined by the government. The other three are medium, large and super-sized portions typically found in fast food restauants.
When larger portions of foods are served, both children and adults tend to eat more. This fact may be contributing to the increase in obesity in America, because restaurants have increased their serving sizes and Americans are eating out more.
Contact faculty member is Dr. Leann L. Birch.
Faculty who do food behavior research include: