Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

SU professor to conduct novel research on weight management in college students

Tuesday, June 7, 2005, By News Staff
Share

SU professor to conduct novel research on weight management in college studentsJune 07, 2005Carol K. Masiclatclkim@syr.edu

Tanya Horacek, associate professor of nutrition and hospitality management in the College of Human Services and Health Professions, has received part of a five-year, $1.13 million grant from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, for a study titled “Behavior Change for Obesity Prevention in Young Adults.” The study will focus on college students, ages 18-24. This age group has not traditionally been included in the dialogue about overweight people and obesity, since it falls between the more commonly studied children/adolescent (ages 6-19) and adult (ages 20 and up) age groups.

Horacek, the principal investigator for Syracuse University, is part of a team of nutrition experts from eight institutions conducting the study, which will be led by the University of Rhode Island. The other participating institutions are the University of Wisconsin, University of Nebraska, University of Maine, Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, Tuskegee University and South Dakota State University.

Horacek received $90,000 of the grant, which will be used to pay graduate assistant staff and compensate subjects. Sarah Dayton, assistant professor of consumer studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, will also contribute to the study. Dayton, a Ph. D. candidate in the Instructional Design Development and Evaluation program in the School of Education, is helping to design the study’s Web site.

Over the course of 15 months, the team will measure the effectiveness of the non-diet approach to weight management. The non-diet approach emphasizes eating in response to physiological cues like hunger and fullness, and increasing body acceptance. Students will be assessed at the beginning of the study, at three months and again at 15 months. Study participants will complete a three-month, interactive, Web-based educational curriculum on the non-diet approach. The study’s control group will receive no instruction or intervention, but will be assessed at the same intervals. Assessments in the form of online questionnaires and fitness evaluations will be conducted by the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management in HSHP and at other partner institutions.

College students have a number of unique factors that make them susceptible to becoming overweight. “Genetics is a cause, of course, but there are also a number of dietary causes, such as poor nutritional choices, lack of variety in the diet and alcohol consumption,” says Horacek. In addition, lifestyle changes typical of new college students can be a factor. The lack of regularly scheduled meals, late night eating and skipping meals can take its toll. “This group is an interesting one-it’s a transitional group. Many of them are newly independent and this is the first time they have been responsible for feeding themselves.” The study will utilize the transtheoretical model of behavior change, which holds that behavioral change occurs over a series of stages, and identification of an individual’s stage is critical to designing a successful change application. In keeping with this, the study will include population-based interventions and the use of materials that are individually tailored to the students’ motivational readiness to change.

The ultimate aim of the study is to determine whether interventions reduce weight gain in participants over the course of the study, compared to the control group. It will also test interventions’ effects on participants’ body images, fruit and vegetable intakes and capacities for aerobic exercise. Effective intervention techniques may be developed into a for-credit class for national dissemination. It may also support the development of other population-specific interventions to prevent obesity.

Horacek hopes students will learn what she calls “eating competence,” an approach to nutrition that incorporates responsible choices, including increasing intake of both fruits and vegetables, introducing a greater variety of foods and challenging old eating habits.

An estimated 2,000 subjects from the eight institutions are expected to take part in the study when it begins in fall 2007. Until then, Horacek and the rest of the team will finalize the study curriculum, conduct online focus groups and screen potential subjects before recruitment begins in spring 2007.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • New Program Connects Law and Social Work Disciplines to Assist Veterans
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Valerie Pietra
  • ’Cuse Scoops Ice Cream Shop Now Open at Drumlins Country Club
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Abby Haessig
  • Summer Snapshots 2023: Submit Your Photos for a Chance to be Featured
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By News Staff
  • Syracuse Libraries Supporting the Faculty Tenure and Promotion Process
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By News Staff
  • During PTSD Awareness Month Legal Clinic Helps Veterans Apply for Benefits They Have Earned and Deserve
    Friday, June 9, 2023, By Robert Conrad

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.