Early Childhood Feeding &
Obesity Prevention

2014 - 2024

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After my postdoctoral fellowship, I shifted my focus in health promotion to continue examining health behavior change strategies in combination with education-based prevention programming by targeting a different potential risk factor for early development: children’s nutrition and physical health. Interdisciplinary collaborations increase research potential by recognizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the majority of this line of research was completely in conjunction with faculty in the department of nutrition. I valued the different lenses by which we approached childhood feeding and obesity prevention. An interdisciplinary and community-based approach ensures my work appropriately addresses societal needs and optimize the potential that it can be translated into programming and policy change.

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TIE Lab Alums Who Assisted with this Research

Jenny Barton, Ali Simons, Lauren James, Molli Cleeton. Monique Villamor, Heather Johnson, Briana Lopez

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Wright, L., Marsland, C., Ross, J., Arikawa, A., Nicholson-Bell, J., & Epps, J. (2023).

Investigation of the multidimensional determinants of negative nutrition coping strategies and tradeoffs in adults accessing food relief: A secondary data analysis. Nutrition and Health, doi. 10.1177/02601060231170248

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Baker, L. N.*, Witherspoon, D. O., Nicholson, J. S., & Fuglestad, A. J. (2023).

The roles of child temperament, parent stress, and parenting style in family mealtimes. Appetite, doi. 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106758

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Lopez, B.*, Nicholson, J. S., Johnson, H.,* Garcia, R.*, Powers, T., & Hughes, C. (2022).

Review and meta-analysis for the Caregiver’s Feeding Styles Questionnaire administered to low-income families. Eating Behaviors, 46, 1-9. doi. 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2022.101659

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Nicholson, J. S., Villamor, M.*, & Wright, L. (2021).

A developmental lens on food insecurity: The role of children in the household and age groups on food insecurity impacting mental health. Aging & Mental Health, 1-10. doi. 10.1080/13607863.2021.1989376

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Nicholson, J. S., Barton, J.*, & Simons, A.* (2018).

Ability to categorize food predicts food choices in Head Start preschoolers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 50, 238-246. doi. 10.1016/j.jneb.2017.09.026