Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Research

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

Faculty who do communication and education research include:

• Jennifer Savage Willams

Epidemiological and Population Science

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.

Faculty who do epidemiology/population science research include:

• Alison Gernand

Food Behavior

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.

Faculty who do food behavior research include:

• Kathleen Keller
• Barbara Rolls
• Jennifer Savage Willams