Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program (I-TOPP)

Sharon Donovan visited and presented at Cornell University earlier this week. An extra bonus during her visit was seeing I-TOPP fellow Roger Figueroa, Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Science in Nutrition at Cornell University.

New publication by former I-TOPP scholars Julia Kim and Natasha Chong Cole:

Strengthening Research that Answers Nutrition Questions of Public Health Importance: Leveraging the Experience of the USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review Team ABSTRACT. The Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) team conducts nutrition- and public health–related systematic reviews and is within the USDA's Center

We are excited to share our latest publication from the I-TOPP program: Assessing Transdisciplinary Scholarly Development: A Longitudinal Mixed Method Graduate Program Evaluation

Click on the link to read more:

Assessing Transdisciplinary Scholarly Development: A Longitudinal Mixed Method Graduate Program Evaluation - Innovative Higher Education Transdisciplinary (TD) graduate training programs are growing in number, yet little is known about their effectiveness or the development of TD attitudes and behaviors among students over time. This prospective longitudinal mixed methods study compares graduate students participating in a federally....

In this study, 1,000 low-income mothers of newborns received a cash gift for the first several years of their children’s lives. The size of the gift was randomly chosen to be either $333 or $20 per month. The mothers could spend the money in ways that made the most sense to them, with no strings attached.

The ongoing trial is led by Drs. Kimberly Noble of Teachers College, Columbia University, Katherine Magnuson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Greg Duncan of the University of California, Irvine. It is supported in part by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The first results from the trial appeared in the February 1, 2022, issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team recorded resting brain activity in 435 of the infants at 1 year of age. They found that infants in the high-cash group showed greater high-frequency activity than those in the low-cash group, particularly in frontal and central brain regions. The effect of the payments on brain activity was similar in size to that seen in successful interventions such as class size reductions.
Click on the link below to read more:

Poverty reduction alters infant brain activity Cash transfers to low-income mothers led to changes in their infants' brain activity.

New analysis from WHO/Europe identifies surprising trends in rates of overweight and obesity across the Region

An analysis has identified that in some countries of the WHO European Region, rates of overweight and obesity have stopped rising, and that higher social and economic status do not necessarily correlate with lower rates of overweight and obesity. Furthermore, the analysis explains that obesity and overweight that start in childhood lead to more health problems.

These 3 trends were identified following a review of 12 articles, the results of which were published as a special supplement to the medical journal Obesity Reviews entitled “From data to action: combating childhood obesity in Europe and beyond”.

Click on the link below to read more:

New analysis from WHO/Europe identifies surprising trends in rates of overweight and obesity across the Region An analysis has identified that in some countries of the WHO European Region, rates of overweight and obesity have stopped rising, and that higher social and economic status do not necessarily correlate with lower rates of overweight and obesity. Furthermore, the analysis explains that obesity and o...

Repost of a LinkedIn post by former I-TOPP Scholar, Roger Figueroa:
From being the paperboy in my neighborhood at age 14, to becoming a guest columnist in my local newspaper. Excited to share my first Op-Ed in The Ithaca Journal (part of the USA TODAY). I will share the link to the online version when available.

5 or more': Higher fruit, vegetable servings linked to kids' improved mental well-being.

New research finds that children who eat more fruit and veg have better mental health. The study is the first to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intakes, breakfast and lunch choices, and mental wellbeing in UK school children. The research team studied data from almost 9,000 children in 50 schools. They found that the types of breakfast and lunch eaten by both primary and secondary school pupils were significantly associated with wellbeing.

Children who eat more fruit and veggies have better mental health New research finds that children who eat more fruit and veg have better mental health. The study is the first to investigate the association between fruit and vegetable intakes, breakfast and lunch choices, and mental wellbeing in UK school children. The research team studied data from almost 9,000....

Congratulations to Roger Figueroa, PhD, MPH, (former I-TOPP Scholar), Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Science in Nutrition at Cornell University for receiving a 3-year grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Federal Capacity Funds to evaluate NY SNAP Express - An online grocery shopping program for recipients. A collaboration between the New York State Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance (OTDA), Media Force LLC, Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orange Co., and Roger's laboratory.

Babies may not come with a care manual, but Feeding My Baby (https://feedingmybaby.extension.illinois.edu), a comprehensive website developed by educators at University of Illinois Extension, delivers a collection of best practices for navigating feeding milestones so that any new parent can feed their baby with confidence at every stage.

Baby Feeding Website Delivers Peace Of Mind For New Parents | RiverBender.com URBANA New parents faced with the responsibility of caring for a baby often wonder how often to feed a newborn, when to wean babies from breastmilk or

In honor of National Breastfeeding Month and World Breastfeeding Week, we interviewed ASN member Sharon M. Donovan, PhD, an expert on the science and health benefits of breastfeeding. Click below to read more:

National Breastfeeding Month: Interview with an Expert on the Science In honor of National Breastfeeding Month and World Breastfeeding Week, we interviewed ASN member Sharon M. Donovan, PhD, an expert Read More

New publication by Liliana Aguayo, PhD, MPH (former I-TOPP scholar), Research Assistant Professor at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. In a pooled sample of 18,343 participants the team found that late adolescence (16.9 years) and early middle age (37.2 years) may be influential periods at which the loss of cardiovascular health accelerates.
Another reason to justify early prevention of CVD.

Influential Periods in Longitudinal Clinical Cardiovascular Health Scores Abstract. The prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) among adults in the United States is low, and decreases with age. Our objective was to identify sp

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