by Kaylee Cordeiro
Health education has reached new levels of accessibility. Former PhD student in Human Nutrition, Chloe Lozano, was recently awarded a two-year, $225K USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. Chloe is working toward personalizing the health app PortionSize Ed, originally created in Louisiana, for youth in Hawai’i. The app tracks food and calorie intake specific to individuals and includes educational videos.
Chloe and her team will conduct research with the hopes of creating a simple way of educating young persons on healthy eating. With various diet plans circulating the internet and society, she believes the best way to create a beneficial program is through research.
Additionally, Chloe believes in the power of prevention, meaning she wants youth to know from a young age how to care for their bodies. Her research will focus on children, ages 9-12, in the Hawai’i Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), which is made up of students from low-income families.
“We hope that this app does help to make it easier to follow evidence-based dietary recommendations and improve and prevent obesity, especially among those who need it the most” she says.
Congratulations on receiving this incredible opportunity and fellowship, Chloe!