Leann L. Birch
Distinguished Professor of Human Development, Director, Center for Childhood Obesity Research
Contact Information
129 Noll Building
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park PA 16802
814-863-0053
(fax) 814-863-0057
llb15@psu.edu
www.hhdev.psu.edu/ccor/
Research Interests
My research investigates factors that influence the developing controls of food intake from infancy through adolescence. This research focuses on both predictors and consequences of eating behavior, including a focus on the development of food preferences, and on problems of energy balance, particularly obesity, dieting, and disordered eating. Our ongoing research investigates individual, familial, and other contextual factors, which influence the developing controls of food intake. Ongoing projects include an investigation of relations among feeding, sleeping and growth in infants during the first year of life, and their subsequent influence on children’s eating, growth, and weight status. Other ongoing projects include research on the effects of altering energy density and portion size of meals and snacks on preschool children’s energy intake. A third project is a 10 year longitudinal study of the development of the controls of food intake among young girls, with a focus on the emergence of weight concerns, dieting, and problems of energy balance, including childhood obesity and disordered eating. This research is also designed to contribute to our understanding of how girls' weight status is linked to their developing sense of self during middle childhood. While dieting and eating disorders have been viewed as problems that emerge during adolescence, our research with 5 to 11 year olds reveals that these problems begin much earlier, prior to puberty, and that they are linked to parents' own eating, weight issues, and to parents' child feeding practices. Currently, we have longitudinal data on nearly 200 families with daughters from age 5 to 15. We are particularly interested in the family resemblances in eating and weight status, in the transmission of dieting and weight concerns from mothers to daughters, and in understanding the mediating processes involved in the inter-generational transmission of eating and weight status. These ongoing projects are funded by NIH, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USDA, and the National Dairy Council.
Education
A.B., 1971, Psychology, California State University, Long Beach
A.M, 1973, Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ph.D., 1975, Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Specializations
2003--Distinguished Professor of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University
2003--Faculty Scholar Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Social and Behavioral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University
2000--Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Career Award, College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University
1996-1997--Fellow, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Academic Leadership Program
1995--G. Malcolm Trout Scholar Award, Michigan State University
1992--American Institute of Nutrition, Lederle Award in Human Nutrition
1992--Paul A. Funk Recognition Award, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1995--G. Malcolm Trout Visiting Scholar, Michigan State University
1996-1997--Fellow, Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Academic Leadership Program
Professional Experience
Director, Center for Childhood Obesity Research
Professor and Head, Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, 1992
Professor of Human Development and Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1986-1992
Chair, Division of Human Development and Family Ecology, Univers ity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1984-1988; 1991-1992
Associate Professor of Human Development, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1981-1986
Assistant Professor of Human Development, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1976-1981
Nutritional Sciences Faculty, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1978-1981
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, 1975-1976
Selected Publications
Spill, M. K., Birch, L. L., Roe, L. S., & Rolls, B. J. (2010). Eating vegetables first: The use of portion size to increase vegetable intake in preschool children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91, 1237-1243. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.29139
Laraway, K. A., Birch, L. L., Shaffer, M. L., & Paul, I. M. (2010). Parent perception of healthy infant and toddler growth. Clinical Pediatrics, 49, 343-349. doi:10.1177/0009922809343717
Birch, L. L., &, Anzman, S. L. (2010). Learning to eat in an obesogenic environment: A developmental systems perspective on childhood obesity. Child Development Perspectives, 4, 138-143. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2010.00132.x
Anzman, S. L., Rollins, B. Y., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Parental influence on children's early eating environments and obesity risk: Implications for prevention. International Journal of Obesity, 34, 1116-1124. doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.43
Rifas-Shiman S. L., Sherry, B., Scanlon, K., Birch, L. L., Gillman, M. W., & Taveras, E. M. (2010). Does maternal feeding restriction lead to childhood obesity in a prospective cohort study? Archives of Disease in Childhood. Advance online publication. doi:10.1136/2 adc.2009.175240
Paul, I. M., Savage, J.S., Anzman, S. L., Beiler, J. S., Marini, M. E., Stokes, J. L., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Preventing obesity during infancy: A pilot study. Obesity (Silver Spring). Advance online publication. doi:10.1038/oby.2010.182
Rollins, B. Y., Loken, E., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Stability and change in snack food likes and dislikes from 5 to 11 years. Appetite, 55, 371-373. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.06.012
Fiorito, L. M., Marini, M. E., Mitchell, D. D., Smiciklas-Wright, H., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Girls’ early sweetened carbonated beverage intake predicts different patterns of beverage and nutrient intake across childhood and adolescence. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 110, 543-550. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2009.12.027
Savage, J. S., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Patterns of weight control strategies predict differences in women’s 4-year weight gain. Obesity (Silver Spring), 18, 513-520. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.265
Lanza, S. T., Savage, J. S., & Birch, L. L. (2010). Identification and prediction of latent classes of weight loss strategies among women. Obesity (Silver Spring), 18, 833-840. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.275
Strategic Themes
- Human Development
- Domains of Health and Behavior