Emma’s research focuses on healthy development in children and adolescents. Her work is united by its focus on public health interventions, underpinned by psychology, which generate impact and change behaviour in children, caregivers and professionals. Emma has particular expertise in children’s eating behaviours (e.g., conducting research to discover effective ways to help children to eat a wider variety of foods), as well as caregiver feeding practices (e.g., identifying successful methods of supporting parents/caregivers with feeding infants and children). Much of Emma’s work has considered the interactions between caregivers and children/adolescents, particularly in relation to feeding, eating and mealtimes, but also in relation to sedentary screen-viewing behaviour and physical activity/exercise.
Broadly, Emma conducts research which aims to contribute to health promotion efforts in the UK and abroad. More specifically, her research explores fussy eating, emotional eating, childhood obesity, infant feeding, early child development, the development of disordered eating, unhealthy (compulsive) exercise behaviours, and, excessive screen use in children/adolescents, as well as feeding practices, parenting, and mental health in adults.
Building on the successful creation of the Child Feeding Guide and Vegetable Maths Masters digital support resources, Emma’s current and recent research projects focus on: 1) creating targeted support for parents/caregivers of children with an avid appetite; 2) the development of a digital tool to support caregivers to increase young children’s vegetable intake; 3) understanding how the Baby Friendly Community Initiative can support children’s early development in Kenya and beyond; 4) developing strategies to target the double burden of malnutrition in infants and young children in Peru; 5) co-designing community-based interventions to enhance maternal and child health in South Africa; and 6) exploring the acceptability of offering children vegetables for breakfast as a way to increase intake.
Selected recent research projects and sources of funding
- Co-developing an app-based intervention to increase children's consumption of vegetables. Funded by the MRC’s PHIND scheme (2022-2023). PI: Dr Clare Holley.
- Parenting pre-schoolers with avid appetites: Understanding differential susceptibility to obesogenic environments for future intervention efficacy. Funded by the ESRC (2021-2024). PI: Prof Jackie Blissett.
- Co-designing community-based ICT interventions to enhance maternal and child health in South Africa. Funded by the EPSRC (Digital Innovation for Development in Africa (DIDA) call) (2020-2021). PI: Dr Nervo Verdezoto Dias.
- Kenya-UK development award to support the design of a whole system approach to facilitate the functioning of the Baby Friendly Community Initiative within the Kenyan health system. Funded by a NIHR Global Health Policy and Systems Research Development Award (2020-2021). PI: Prof Paula Griffiths.
- CAring Practices and Support for Early Childhood Development and learning among nomadic pastoralists – informing the development of a support system to foster optimal early childhood development in Kenya (CAPS-ECD study). Funded by the British Academy (2019-2021). PI: Prof Paula Griffiths.
- New strategies to reduce anaemia and risk of overweight and obesity through complementary feeding of infants and young children in Peru. Funded by the MRC’s UK - Peru: Relationship between food, Nutrition & Health 2018 call (Newton Fund) (2019-2023). PI: Prof Emily Rousham.