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Alison K. Ventura, Ph.D., CLEC

Research Interests

My research focuses on the primary prevention of obesity within family contexts. Our current studies focus on parent-child interactions during early childhood and aim to understand how to promote responsive feeding practices and styles during both breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and early solid food-feeding interactions.

Educational Background

  • MS Nutrition
  • MS Human Development and Family Studies
  • PhD Human Development and Family Studies
  • CLEC - Certified Lactation Education Counselor 

Current Projects

  1. Breast- and Bottle-feeding Study (lab-based study of breast and bottle-feeding interactions)
  2. Infant Feeding and Growth Study (community-based intervention to promote healthy feeding practices for bottle-feeding mothers)
  3. Dyadic Interactions during Early Feeding (observational, longitudinal study of the co-development of children's eating behaviors and mothers' feeding practices and styles across the first year of life)
  4. Promoting Responsive Bottle-Feeding within WIC: Policy, Systems, and Environmental Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
  5. The Paced-Bottle Feeding Study (lab and community based study of the effectiveness of teaching paced-bottle-feeding approaches)

Publication Highlights

  1. Ventura AK, Thompson K. Predictors of resilience among infants at risk for rapid weight gain. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2019 Jan;27(1):130-136. doi: 10.1002/oby.22351. PMID: 30569642.
  2. Ventura AK, Hernandez A. Effects of opaque, weighted bottles on maternal sensitivity and infant intake. Matern Child Nutr. 2018 Oct 21:e12737. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12737. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 30345622.
  3. Anzman-Frasca S, Ventura AK, Ehrenberg S, Myers KP. Promoting healthy food preferences from the start: a narrative review of food preference learning from the prenatal period through early childhood. Obes Rev. 2018 Apr;19(4):576-604. doi: 10.1111/obr.12658. Epub 2017 Dec 20. Review. PMID: 29266778.
  4. Ventura AK. Associations between Breastfeeding and Maternal Responsiveness: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Adv Nutr. 2017 May;8(3):495-510. PubMed PMID: 28507014; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5421127.
  5. Ventura AK. Developmental Trajectories of Bottle-Feeding During Infancy and Their Association with Weight Gain. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2017 Feb/Mar;38(2):109-119. PubMed PMID: 27941411.
  6. Ventura AK, Pollack Golen R. A pilot study comparing opaque, weighted bottles with conventional, clear bottles for infant feeding. Appetite. 2015 Feb;85:178-84. PubMed PMID: 25445988; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4309547.
  7. Ventura AK, Beauchamp GK, Mennella JA. Infant regulation of intake: the effect of free glutamate content in infant formulas. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Apr;95(4):875-81. PubMed PMID: 22357724; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3302362.

Complete List of Published Work Can be Viewed Here

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