Lab Projects
REACH Study (Relationships amongst Eating Behavior, Food Access, and Cardiometabolic Health)
The REACH Study was designed to collect data on food insecurity and loss of control eating in two pediatric cardiometabolic health clinics: type 2 diabetes and metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease (MASLD). With this data, we examined associations amongst food insecurity and loss of control eating, including week-to-week variations in receipt of food stamps in relation to eating behavior. The REACH study was conducted with mentors and collaborators in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology (Meg Zeller, PhD and Sanita Ley, PhD), and the Divisions of Endocrinology (Amy Shah, MD, MS, FNLA) and Gastroenterology (Stavra A, Xanthakos, MD, MS) and funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Research Training in Child Behavior and Nutrition (T32DK063929-21).
HALO-E (Health and Lifestyle Behaviors in Offspring – Eating Behaviors Sub-study)
HALO-E is a sub-study of Meg Zeller, PhD’s HALO-2 RCT (Changing Health and Lifestyle Behaviors of Offspring Following Maternal Bariatric Surgery; NIDDK, 5R01DK128525-03), which enrolls mothers who have had bariatric surgery in a 16-week virtual family-based health behavior and obesity prevention program with their 6-12 year old children, in comparison to a standard of care control group. HALO-E (Eating Behaviors) sub-study, aims to understand intergenerational experiences of food insecurity and eating behavior in these unique dyads in the RCT, through examining self-reported food insecurity, community-level factors, disordered eating and dietary intake.
Community Food Access Partnerships
The Bejarano lab collaborates with Cincinnati food access non-profits as part of our involvement in the SAFE Network (System to Achieve Food Equity) at Cincinnati Children’s. For example, we partnered with non-profit Black Power Initiative (BPI) to assess outcomes of their food rescue and distribution program, which led to funding from the United Way Black Empowerment Works Grant to support, sustain, and expand BPI’s program. BPI and the Bejarano Lab at Cincinnati Children's were honored by an Academic-Community Research Partnership Award from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) through the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The Bejarano lab and BPI have also partnered on a Youth Garden Program in Avondale as part of our work with the SAFE Network.
Body Image and Intuitive Eating Collaborations
As a lab we are passionate about helping youth develop healthy relationships with food and positive body image. We are interested in evidence-based approaches such as mindfulness-based eating, intuitive eating, and body appreciation interventions, which have shown to be preventive to disordered eating habits. With this mission we have built collaborations with Healthworks and clinical colleagues within BMCP. For example, we collaborate with Sanita Ley, PhD on the Body Project Intervention group for adolescent girls and have conducted a QI project with the Healthworks summer camp to pilot an intuitive eating and body image intervention.
