Annika Vahk, PhD, ACSM CEP, a 2023 graduate from the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, was recently featured on a podcast to discuss research she conducted as part of her dissertation at WSU.
Published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, the study assessed the efficacy of a nutrition and physical activity program for Mexican-heritage fathers and found the program significantly improved health behaviors for 2.5 years after completion, a longer timeframe than typically included in post-intervention evaluations.
“Overall, we saw positive improvements and that was very exciting to see. Fathers had significantly increased their dietary intake of fruits and vegetables and the healthy dietary related behavior scores did go up,” Dr. Vahk said in the episode.
Co-authors on the article included Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Associate Professor Pablo Monsivais, PhD, MPH, and Assistant Professor Trey DeJong, PhD, from the WSU College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Mathematics and Statistics.