Early childhood is an optimal time for establishing healthy eating habits which may prevent disease later in life.
Dr. Shieh researches how as nutrition gatekeepers, parents play important roles in facilitating their children’s vegetable intake, but they may experience barriers that extend beyond the scope of diet. This indicates that multi-layered approaches which target multiple health determinants will be required to achieve health equity. Interventions to strengthen other key influencers of health and go beyond singularly addressing dietary factors are needed. Shieh found that studies show there is an inverse relationship between education level and poor health, indicating that one potential intervention area is early education, which encompasses physical, cognitive, and linguistic developmental areas as well as scientific and mathematical reasoning. Food can function as a vehicle to integrate academic and developmental learning. SAM (Science, Arts, Mathematics) use among school-aged children has successfully improved cognitive development and academic achievement in classroom content areas.
Josephine has many years of teaching experience as a TA, instructor, and co-instructor for classes here at UGA and at Valdosta State and she is also a certified high school biology teacher in Georgia. As a graduate student, Jo received several notable grants as well as numerous awards and scholarships. She is a member of the following professional affiliations:
- Georgia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND)
- Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB)
- American Society for Nutrition (ASN)
- The Obesity Society (TOS)
- Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE)
- National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
- National School Board Association (NSBA)
Find out more about Dr. Shieh