Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the latest ISBNPA Young Adult Special Interest Group Newsletter.

It doesn’t seem long since our last ISBNPA conference, but we’re already getting excited about meeting in New Zealand! We’re looking forward to seeing lots of juicy abstracts about Young Adults Nutrition and Physical Activity! Meanwhile, later this month, we have our “Young Adult SIG Research Showcase”, with presentations highlighting the work of our recent SIG Award winners across the career spectrum. Finally, and importantly, we are looking to expand our SIG to make sure that we reach all who are interested in research on Young Adults Nutrition and Physical Activity. So please do forward this newsletter to any friends, colleagues or collaborators who might be interested in joining our network, attending our events, or keeping in touch with research in this space.

Dr. Eleanor Winpenny, Chair of ISBNPA Young Adult SIG

Young Adult SIG Award Winners

Mentorship Award

We are thrilled to announce Professor Jessica LaRose as our YA SIG Mentor of the Year. Dr. LaRose is Professor and Interim Chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the School of Public Health at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on developing novel and sustainable interventions to promote cardiometabolic health for marginalized and underserved populations. Dr. LaRose believes that training and mentoring the next generation of scientists and practitioners is a privilege and one of the most important aspects of her job.

Some of the wonderful things Dr. LaRose's mentees have to say about her:

"Dr. LaRose works diligently to support her mentees, and I can confidently say that each of us have become stronger researchers and kinder, more thoughtful people by simply being in her orbit"

"Dr. LaRose is dedicated to guiding and mentoring the next generation. She is passionate and encourages curiosity --- she consistently pushes you to challenge existing knowledge."

"Not only is Dr. LaRose an incredible scientist, but she is a wonderful human and supportive mentor.... When I encounter issues, I know she'll help to support my thought process as I work through solutions and share her valuable and thoughtful opinions."

"Dr. LaRose’s mentorship is tailored to the needs of her trainees with respect to career stage, professional goals, skill development, and communication style. No two experiences are the same—outside of being incredibly rewarding!!"

Tune in to the research showcase (see below) to hear Dr. LaRose's presentation entitled "Empowering the next generation: Leadership and mentorship in research to promote health during emerging and young adulthood".

Publication Awards

Mid-career Award

The Mid-Career Award this year went to Professor Zi Yan. Dr. Yan is Professor and Chair of Nutrition and Public Health in the School of Nursing and Health Science at Merrimack College. Her research is focused on the intersection of psychology, public health, and exercise science with recent work dedicated to understanding how sociocultural and environmental factors affect exercise and other health behaviors of different population groups, including women, older, and people with disabilities.

Click here for Dr. Yan's award-winning manuscript:

Yan, Z., Peacock, J., Cohen, J. F., Kurdziel, L., Benes, S., Oh, S., & Bowling, A. (2023). An 8-week peer health coaching intervention among college students: a pilot randomized study. Nutrients, 15(5), 1284.

Early Career Award

The Early Career Award this year went to Ms. Rebecca Raeside. Ms. Raeside is a PhD Candidate in Public Health at the University of Sydney. Her research is focused on digital health interventions for adolescents to improve mental and physical health.

Click here for Ms. Raeside's award-winning manuscript:

Raeside R, Todd A, Wardak S, Gardner L, Champion KE, Kang M, Mihrshahi S, Steinbeck K, Redfern J, Partridge SR, HAPYUS and The Health4Me Team. Striking the right balance: co-designing the Health4Me healthy lifestyle digital health intervention with adolescents. Research Involvement and Engagement 2023; 9:114.

ISBNPA Young Adult SIG Showcase

Want to learn more about our 2024 winners and their research? You're in luck! The Young Adult SIG will be hosting a webinar to showcase the innovative and high-quality research happening internationally relating to behavioural nutrition and physical activity in young adults.

Join us on October 23rd, 2024 at 22:00 UTC to hear more from Professor Jessica LaRose, Professor Zi Yan, and Ms. Rebecca Raeside.

Click here to register for the showcase. If you are unable to make it, the recording will also be available here shortly after the webinar.

Not sure what time 22:00 UTC is for you? See below for some common timezones.

October 23rd at 6pm (US EST)
October 23rd at 11pm (BST)
October 24th at 9am (Australian EST)

Gender Spectrum Photo Collection

Check out this new resource on the Vice website featuring stock photos of trans and gender diverse individuals, many of whom are young adults. These images are free to use and can be included in recruitment and intervention materials to ensure representation of a variety of gender identities. Note that the identity(ies) of the individual(s) pictured are in the photo caption to ensure accurate representation.

Click here for the Vice Gender Spectrum photo collection

ISBNPA 2025

The call for abstracts for ISBNPA 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand is now open! Submit your recent work in young adults to share with your colleagues in June. Make sure to tag your submission within the Young Adult SIG to be considered for our conference awards. As a small, but mighty, SIG we are always looking for exciting new research to recognize!

Recent Publications

Don’t miss these new publications relevant to young adults’ health and wellness. Have a new publication you’d like us to feature on X (Twitter) or our next newsletter? Email our communications chairs here.

Braune, T., Kudlek, L., Xiao, C., Tang, H., Demers‐Potvin, É., Harris, H. A., ... & Winpenny, E. M. (2024). Interpersonal determinants of diet quality and eating behaviors in people aged 13–30 years: A systematic scoping review. Obesity Reviews, e13835.

Brown, K. L., Bettencourt, A. F., Hines, A. L., Cooper, L. A., & Gudzune, K. A. (2024). Association Between Maladaptive Eating Behaviors Among Black Women and Vicarious Racial Discrimination Following a High-Profile Event. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 1-9.

Collins, R. A., Ashton, L. M., Burrows, T. L., Hutchesson, M., Adam, M. T., Clarke, E. D., & Collins, C. E. (2024). No Money No Time Culinary Nutrition Website eHealth Challenge: A Pre-Post Evaluation of Impact on Diet Quality, Food Expenditure, and Engagement. Nutrients, 16(17), 2950.

Livingstone, K. M., Rawstorn, J. C., Alston, L., Partridge, S. R., Bastian, A., Dullaghan, K., ... & Godrich, S. L. (2024). Co-design of a personalised digital intervention to improve vegetable intake in adults living in Australian rural communities. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 146.

Reading, J. M., Crane, M. M., Guan, J., Jackman, R., Thomson, M. D., & LaRose, J. G. (2024). Acceptability of a Self-Guided Lifestyle Intervention Among Young Men: Mixed Methods Analysis of Pilot Findings. JMIR Formative Research, 8, e53841.

Tao Y, Maddock J, Howe L, Winpenny E. Early adulthood socioeconomic trajectories contribute to inequalities in adult diet quality, independent of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position. J Epidemiol Community Health Published Online First: 18 September 2024. doi: 10.1136/jech-2024-222472.

Tao Y, Wall M, Larson N, Neumark-Sztainer D, Winpenny EM. Changes in diet quality across life transitions from adolescence to early adulthood: a latent growth analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.08.017.

Valle, C. G., Heiling, H. M., Deal, A. M., Diamond, M. A., Hales, D. P., Nezami, B. T., ... & Tate, D. F. (2024). Examining sociodemographic and health-related characteristics as moderators of an mHealth intervention on physical activity outcomes in young adult cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1-12.

Encourage your colleagues to sign up for our SIG newsletter!

You or your colleagues can join this mailing list by updating your membership profile and adding the SIG to your preferences; or by filling out this google form.

Contributors to this Newsletter: Dr. Jacqueline Hayes, Dr. Eleanor Winpenny, A/Prof Melinda Hutchesson