Associate Clinical Professor, Nutrition and Public Health
My research examines the links between parent factors (e.g. feeding practices, stress), child dietary intake and child obesity risk, particularly within underserved populations facing food insecurity. I have broad training in psychology and health behavior research, particularly mixed methods approaches to child obesity prevention and treatment. My research has identified links between maternal stress, weight-related parenting behavior, child diet, child physical activity, and child obesity risk. Other research has expanded tools for dietary assessment including co-development and validation of a method using digital images in the quick serve restaurant environment and a method using Artificial Intelligence. I am also a co-founding member of the Food Justice Research and Action Cluster.
Shonkoff, E.T., Hennessy, E., Chui, K., Gervis, J.E., Bakun, P., Matthews, E., Amin, S., Roberts, S., Borges, M., Martino, J., and Economos, C.D. (2022). Reliability and validity of digital images to assess child dietary intake in a quick-service restaurant setting. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Hennessy, E., Shonkoff, E., Harelick, L., Bakun, P., Chui, K., Roberts, S., Folta, S., Goldberg, J., Economos, C. (2022). The impact of a community social marketing campaign on children’s meal orders and consumption: main outcomes from a group randomized controlled trial. Public Health Nutrition.
Cohen, JFW, Scott M, Sutton M, Cueva K, Shonkoff ET, Goldman RE, Margolis DN, Potempa AE, Fink K, Gustus S, Stock M. (2020). A mixed methods evaluation of a school wellness initiative: an examination of longer lunch periods and more physical activity opportunities. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Mueller, M.P., Shonkoff, E.T., Folta, S.C., Anzman-Frasca, S., Economos, C.D. (2020). Orders of healthier adult menu items following the implementation of a healthier children’s restaurant menu. Nutrients.50 (11)
Shonkoff, E.T., Folta., S.C., Fitopoulos, T., Ramirez, C.N., Bluthenthal, R., Pentz, M.A., Chou, C., & Dunton, F., (2020). A positive deviance-based qualitative study of stress coping, and feeding practices among low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children do versus do not meet guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake. Health Education Research. 35(6).
Merrimack's new Shared Instrumentation and Research Facility (SIRF), will serve as an on-campus research hub for biology, chemistry and other life science initiatives.
