Professional Background
Mary Swartz Rose Professor of Nutrition and Education
Educational Background
B.Sc. (Hons), University of Edinburgh
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Scholarly Interests
Behavioral
aspects of nutrition; use of psychosocial theory to study factors influencing
food choice, particularly among children and adolescents; the development and
evaluation of curricula that link science education and nutrition literacy
through an examination of food and food systems; and impact of an intervention
to reduce risk of overweight in youth by focusing on increasing understanding
of how the interactions among biology, personal behavior, and the food system
affect eating patterns and weight and enhancing skills to make competent
choices.
Selected Publications
Book
Nutrition
Education: Linking Research, Theory and Practice, Jones & Bartlett, 2007
Publications
Contento, I.R., Senior author. The effectiveness of nutrition education and implications for nutrition education policy, programs, and research. A review of research. J Nutr Educ 17:279-418, 1995
Bissonnette, MM. & Contento IR. Adolescents’ perspectives and food choice behaviors in relation to the environmental impacts of food production practices. J Nutr Educ. 33:72-82, 2001
Contento IR, Randell JS, Basch CE. Review and analysis of evaluation measures used in nutrition education intervention research. J Nutr Educ 34: 2-25, 2002
Contento IR, Basch, CE, Zybert P. Body image, weight, and food choices of Latina women and their young children. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior. 35:236-48, 2003
Calabrese Barton A, Koch PA, Contento IR, Trudeau M, Yang K, Hindin TJ, Hagiwara, S. From global sustainability to inclusive education: Understanding urban children’s ideas about the food system. Internat J Science Educ 27: 1163-1186, 2005
Contento IR. Williams SS. Michela JL. Franklin AB. Understanding the food choice process of adolescents in the context of family and friends. J Adol Health. 38:575-82, 2006.
Contento IR, Koch PA, Lee HW, Sauberli W, Calabree-Barton A. Enhancing personal agency and competence in eating and moving: Formative evaluation of a middle school curriculum, Choice, Control, and Change. J Nutr Educ Behav.39:S179-S186, 2007
Di Noia J, Contento IR, Prochaska JO. Intervention tailored on Transtheoretical Model stages and processes of change increases fruit and vegetable consumption among economically disadvantaged African American adolescents. Am J Health Promotion 22:336-341, 2008.
Isobel R. Contento
Mary Swartz Rose Professor of Nutrition and Education
Phone: 212-678-3949
Email: