Office Location:
530B Building 528TC Affiliations:
Faculty Expertise:
Educational Background
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Scholarly Interests
Behavioral aspects of nutrition; the development and evaluation of theory-based behaviorally-focused interventions to improve health and reduce risk of overweight in youth emphasizing how the interactions among biology, personal behavior, and the food system affect eating patterns and weight, and enhancing skills to make competent choices; the systematic use of theory and research evidence to design nutrition education programs for a variety of populations to motivate and facilitate behavior change and provide environmental supports for change; the role of family in children’s food choice; the evaluation of multi-component nutrition education, including classroom curricula, physical activity, school meals, and school gardens; the training of nutrition educators.
Selected Publications
Book
Contento, IR. (2007, 2011, 2016). Textbook: Nutrition education: Linking research, theory, and practice Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Contento, IR. and P. Koch (2020, 2025). Textbook: Nutrition education: Linking research, theory, and practice. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Selected Publications
Lee JM., Contento IR, and Gray H. 2025. Food choices and sustainability considerations and their association with food consumption patterns in East Asian students in the U.S.A. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 1-20.
Ash S, Contento IR, Olfert MD, Koch P. 2023. Nutrition educator competencies for promoting healthy individuals, communities, and food systems: Rationale and application. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 55(1):3-
Contento IR, Paul R, Marin-Chollom AM, Gaffney AG, Sepulveda J, Dominguez N, Gray H, Haase AM, Hershman DL, Koch P, Greenlee H. 2022 Developing a diet and physical activity intervention for Hispanic/Latina breast cancer survivors. Cancer Control 29:1-16.
Santiago-Torres M, Contento IR, Koch P, Tsai W-Y, Brickman AM, Gaffney AO, Thompson CA, Crane…. Greenlee H. (2021) ¡Mi Vida Saludable! A randomized, controlled, 2 × 2 factorial trial of a diet and physical activity intervention among Latina breast cancer survivors: Study design and methods. Contemporary Clinical Trials 110: 106524.
Luesse, H. B., Koch, P.A., Contento I. R. 2019. Applying the Nutrition Education DESIGN Procedure to the development of the In Defense of Food Curriculum. Health Education Journal. 78(7); 824-838.
Hayes D, Contento IR, Weekly C. (2018). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Society of Nutrition Education, and School Nutrition Association: Comprehensive Nutrition Programs and Services in Schools. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 50(5): 433-439.
Alvarez-Sanchez, C, Contento IR, Jimenez-Aguilar A, Koch P, Gray HL, Guerra LA, Rivera-Dommarco J, Uribe-Carvajal R, Shamah-Levy T. (2018). Does the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage tax have a signaling effect? PLOSOne 2018 Aug 22; 13(8).
Bendelli, L.N., Gray, H.L., Paul, R., Contento, I.R., & Koch, P.A. (2017). Associations among measures of energy balance related behaviors and psychosocial determinants in urban upper elementary school children, Appetite, 108(1), 171-182.
Graziose, M.M., Koch, P.A., Wang, Y.C., Gray, H.L., & Contento, I.R. (2017). Cost-effectiveness of a nutrition education curriculum intervention in elementary schools, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49(8): 684-691.
Gray, H.L., Koch, P.A., Contento, I.R., Bendelli, L.N., Ang, I., & Di Noia, J. (2016). Validity and reliability of behavior and theory-based psychosocial determinants measures, using Audience Response System technology in urban upper-elementary schoolchildren. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48(7), 437-452.
Gray, H.L., Contento, I.R., Koch, P.A., & Di Noia, J. (2016). Mediating mechanisms of theory-based psychosocial determinants on behavioral changes in a middle school obesity risk reduction curriculum intervention, Choice, Control & Change, Childhood Obesity, 12(5): 348-359.
Aycinena AC, Gaffney AG, Koch P, Contento IR, Karmally W, Greenlee H. (2017). ¡Cocinar Para Su Salud!: Development of a culturally-based nutrition education curriculum for Hispanic breast cancer survivors using a theory-driven procedural model. Health Education and Behavior. Feb;44(1):13-22
Greenlee H, Ogden Gaffney A, Aycinena C, Koch P, Contento I.R, Karmally W, et al. (2015). ¡Cocinar Para Su Salud!: Randomized controlled trial of a culturally based dietary intervention among Hispanic breast cancer survivors. Journal of the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition 115:709–723, 2015.
Crookes DM, Shelton RC, Tehranifar P, Aycinena AC, Gaffney AO, Koch P, Contento IR, Greenlee H. (2015). Social networks and social support for healthy eating among Latina breast cancer survivors: implications for social and behavioral interventions. Journal of Cancer Survivors doi: 10.1007/s11764-015-0475-6
Majumdar D, Koch PA, Lee H, Contento IR, de Lourdes Islas-Ramos A, & Fu D. (2015). Nutrition science and behavioral theories integrated in a serious game for adolescents. Simulation & Gaming 46(1): 68-97
Pai SL & Contento IR. (2014). Parental perceptions, feeding practices, feeding styles and level of acculturation of Chinese Americans in relation to their school-age child’s weight status. Appetite 2014. 2014;80:174-182.
Peters NC, Contento IR, Kronenberg F, & Coleton M. 2014. Adherence in a 1-year whole foods eating pattern intervention with healthy postmenopausal women. Public Health Nutrition 17(12):2806-15. PMID: 24499772
Lee H, Contento IR, Koch PA. (2013). Process evaluation of a middle school obesity risk-reduction nutrition curriculum intervention: Choice, Control & Change. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior 45:105-109.
Contento IR. (2012). Improving the diets and eating patterns of children and adolescents: How can nutrition education help? Adolescent Medicine 23; 471-492.
Eto K, Koch P, Contento IR Miyuki A. (2011). Variables of the theory of planned behavior are associated with family meal frequency among adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior 43:525-530.
Contento, I.R., Koch, P.A., Lee, H., & Calabrese-Barton, A. (2010). Adolescents demonstrate improvement in obesity risk behaviors after completion of Choice, Control & Change (C3), a curriculum addressing personal agency and autonomous motivation. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 110, 1830-1839.
Di Noia, J., Contento, I.R., Prochasks, J.O. (2008). Computer-mediated intervention tailored on Transtheoretical model stages and processes of change increases fruit and vegetable consumption among urban African-American adolescents. American Journal of Health Promotion. 22, 336-341.
Contento IR. (2008) Nutrition education: Linking research, theory and practice. Asian Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 17: 176-179
Contento IR, Williams SS, Michela JL, Franklin AB. (2006). Understanding the food choice process of adolescents in the context of family and friends. Journal of Adolescent Health 38:575-582.
Calabrese-Barton A, Koch PA, Contento IR, Trudeau M, Yang K, Hindin TJ, Hagiwara, S. (2005). From global sustainability to inclusive education: Understanding urban children’s ideas about food production. International Journal of Science Education 27: 1163-1186.
Hindin TJ, Contento IR, Gussow JD (2004). A media literacy nutrition education curriculum for Head Start parents about the effects of television advertising on their children’s food requests. Journal of the American Dietetic Association.104: 164-169.
Contento IR, Basch, CE, Zybert P. (2003). Body image, weight, and food choices of Latina women and their young children. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior. 35:236-48.
Contento IR, Randell JS, Basch CE. (2002). Review and analysis of evaluation measures used in nutrition education intervention research. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior 34: 2-25.
Bissonnette, M.M. & Contento I.R. (2001). Adolescents’ perspectives and food choice behaviors in relation to the environmental impacts of food production practices. Journal of Nutrition Education, 33:72-82.
Liquori T. Koch PD, Contento IR, Castle J. (1998). The Cookshop Program: Outcome evaluation of nutrition education program linking lunchroom food experiences with classroom cooking experiences. Journal of Nutrition Education, 30:302-313.
Contento, I. R., Senior author. (1995). The effectiveness of nutrition education and implications for nutrition education policy, programs and research. A review of research. Journal of Nutrition Education, 27:279-418.
Biographical Information
Isobel R. Contento, PhD, CDN, is the Mary Swartz Rose emerita professor of nutrition and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. She has had extensive experience in both research and practice in the area of nutrition education. Her research has focused on factors influencing food choice, particularly among children and adolescents, and the systematic use of theory and research evidence to design and evaluate nutrition education programs for a variety of populations to motivate and facilitate behavior change and promote environmental supports for change. In recent years, she and colleague Dr. Pamela Koch developed and evaluated school-based curricula linking childhood health promotion and obesity prevention to education about food and food systems. She received research grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Science Education Partnership Award, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and others. She has published over 200 articles and numerous abstracts in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, requested papers, and reports. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. She has been a member of several national advisory committees, including the Institute of Medicine, the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the last for developing guidelines for nutrition education in low- and medium-income countries.
Her textbook Nutrition Education: Linking Research, Theory, and Practice has gone through five editions, now with co-author Dr Pamela Koch, and has been translated into several languages. It is used not only on college campuses but is used by education practitioners, intervention program planners, and researchers nationally and internationally. It has helped to shape nutrition education to be focused on behavior, based on evidence and theory, and supported by environmental action. Its six-step DESIGN Procedure has been used widely to develop effective nutrition education.
She was the recipient of the Society of Nutrition education and Behavior’s Lifetime Excellence in Nutrition Education Award in recognition of outstanding and sustained achievement in the field of nutrition education, and the President’s Award for outstanding leadership and contributions to the Society. She is also the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award of the International Academy of Nutrition Educators for her exemplary and outstanding contributions to the field of nutrition education internationally.
She has spoken widely on nutrition education in the United States and internationally in such diverse places as Israel, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, and El Salvador. She has also been active in the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior for many years, serving on various committees and also on its Board of Directors and as a member and president of its Foundation Board of Trustees.
She has worked with graduate students, practitioners, nutrition education leaders to enhance their skills in designing theory- and evidence-based, environmentally supported nutrition education in school and community settings in the United States and other countries. She received her BS from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
Current Research
Dr Contento’s current research, conducted with collaborators, focuses on several areas:
•Linking childhood health promotion and obesity prevention to food system education - examples include an intervention study with middle school students, Choice, Control & Change, that seeks to reduce the risk of overweight in youth by an emphasis on personal agency and autonomous motivation in healthful food and activity choices within an obesigenic environment; In Defense of Food after-school curriculum designed to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables and decrease consumption of highly processed food for improved health; Creature 101, a serious educational game for middle school youth to increase healthful behaviors, In defense of Food after school program to increase .
•The interactions of education and policy - an example is Food, Health & Choices, a study with fifth graders that examines the impact of classroom education and wellness policy separately and together to achieve healthful choices and obesity risk reduction.
•Evaluation of multi-component interventions in schools involving classroom curriculum, school meals, and school gardens.
•Factors in influencing nutrition education policy and programs at the state and local levels.
Honors and Awards
International Academy of Nutrition Educators, Outstanding Achievement Award for exemplary and outstanding contributions to the field of nutrition education internationally. 2022.
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, President’s Award for outstanding leadership and contributions to the Society 2020.
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Gold Author Award in recognition of authors with exceptional publications records in the Journal and for high frequency of publication of excellent manuscripts during the past 10 years. 2020; 2018.
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, Helen Denning Ullrich Award for Lifetime Excellence in Nutrition Education, in recognition of outstanding and sustained achievement in the field of nutrition education. 2012