Project EAT (Eating Among Teens)

Dietary patterns developed during adolescence may contribute to obesity and eating disorders and may increase risk for several important chronic diseases later in life. Furthermore, the prevalence of overweight has increased significantly, in particular among minority youth and youth from low socio-economic backgrounds. In order to address these growing problems, it is essential to identify which groups of adolescents need to be targeted for intervention and to identify the factors that need to be addressed in  interventions. Large gaps exist in our understanding of the factors associated with nutritional intake, physical activity, and weight status > among adolescents. This study aims to identify the socio-environmental, personal, and behavioral determinants of nutritional intake and weight  status among a large and ethnically diverse adolescent population. Study components included: 1) focus groups with adolescents, 2) school-based surveys and anthropometric measurements with adolescents, and 3) parental telephone interviews, and 4) a five-year longitudinal follow-up of 2,516 adolescents.

Projects EAT-I and EAT-II (Time 1 and Time 2 data collection) were supported by the Maternal and Child Health Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (grants MCJ-270834 and R40 MC 00319). Projects EAT-III and EAT-2010 are currently funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (grant R01HL084064).

Project investigators are faculty at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and teach courses in Public Health Nutrition, Community Health Education, and Biostatistics.

Research Team

Project Investigators

• Dianne Neumark-Sztainer PhD, MPH, RD, Principal Investigator
• Mary Story, PhD, RD, Investigator
• Marla Eisenberg, ScD, MPH, Investigator
• Jayne Fulkerson, PhD Investigator
• Jerica Berge, PhD, LMFT Investigator
• John Sirard, PhD, Investigator
• Ann Forsyth, PhD, MA, Investigator/Consultant

Project Statisticians

• Melanie Wall, PhD
• Peter Hannan, Mstat
• Richard LacLehose, PhD

Project Director

• Nicole Larson, PhD, MPH, RD
• Katie Loth, MPH, RD