University at Buffalo Child Health and Behavior Lab

Meet Hannah! Hannah is one of our new undergraduate research assistants. Swipe more to learn more about her!

Last weekend our team had at table at the Independent Health Foundation Kids’ Run! We always enjoy participating in this fun, free community event that gets families moving together. We met lots of kids and families, sharing information about our lab (and beach balls and frisbees too). Thanks, Kids’ Run!

Our team has been busy preparing for the next phase of our Family Grocery research, which aims to make healthy grocery shopping and meal preparation easier for families. Check out the initial pilot study that set the stage for this work: The study tested the effects of an online grocery shopping program for families with 2-to-5-year-old children. All families in the study received healthy recipes designed for families, and some also had their online grocery carts filled with ingredients from the recipes. Families could change the carts as they liked. Results showed that receiving the prefilled carts increased the nutritional quality of families’ grocery purchases. Read the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666325005501

Meet Katie! Katie is a new graduate research assistant in the HABLAB. Swipe to learn more about her!

Looking to stay active this summer? Check out Independent Health and the YMCA’s Fitness in the Parks program, which offers free fitness classes throughout various parks in Western New York. For class locations, times, and more information visit their website at: https://www.independenthealth.com/in-the-community/programs/fitness-in-the-parks -235b1b606e-item-ac772e1412

Congratulations to Jack McGowan, who recently defended his Master’s thesis! Jack is a student within the Clinical Nutrition program, and his thesis work examined whether a healthy grocery shopping intervention worked different by income and food security subgroups. His results will inform our next steps as we plan for future grocery shopping research. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Jack as he continues as a team member in our lab.

Several HABLAB team members presented posters at the University at Buffalo Ingestive Behavior Research Day! Our poster presenters included undergraduate honors students CJ Jodoin and Lily Rudnicki, staff members Juliana Goldsmith and Rula Masoud, and PhD student Mars Scharf. Great work to everyone who presented!

Check out the Independent Health Foundation’s Annual Kids Run! The event is held at the Colvin Green Space, at the corner of Colvin Blvd. and Amherst St., near The Buffalo Zoo service gate and is open to children of all ages and their families. This FREE community event is a great way to get your child and family moving! For more information and registration visit: https://www.kidsrunbuffalo.com/race-details

April is stress awareness month, check out some of these tips to help reduce stress in children!

Try making vegetables fun for your child with these fun tips!