Public Health
Title Fruits and Vegetables for By Firstname Lastname Infant Health By Sara Bernate Angulo Photo by Heather Annette Miller, CC-BY-NC-2.0
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besity—a disease of staggering severity, though unfortunately much too familiar in this day and age. As rates increase among both adults and children, the obesity epidemic continues to worsen in the U.S.1,2 Obesity is associated with increased risk for diseases and decreased quality of life. Thankfully, researchers worldwide have made strides to understand and address this public health concern, identifying factors such as diet and exercise for prevention and treatment. Research has indicated that the risk of obesity can stem from diet and eating behaviors as early as the first two years of life.3,4 As such, improving infant diet is a major focus for preventing the development of obesity later in life. This is precisely the focus of Dr. Heather Wasser, a nutrition assistant professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). She earned her BS from Fontbonne University, her RD credential from Cornell University, and both her MPH and PhD from UNC. In addition to her education, her extensive experiences working as a clinical dietitian and a project specialist, coordinator, and nutrition consultant for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services have cultivated a professional focus on behavioral nutritional interventions that promote infant and toddler health. “Almost all of my research comes from life experiences and observation,” Dr. Wasser shared.5 Indeed, her interest in public health began with an observation. In undergraduate school, as a nanny for a wealthy family and an intern for a public health organization that provided summer meals for children of low-income families, Dr. Wasser had a first-hand account of the wide-ranging racial, economic, and health disparities of St. Louis, Missouri, where she lived at the time. After earning her RD credential and MPH, Dr. Wasser’s involvement with the state and local health departments
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to improve nutrition in childcare centers led her to identify child health promotion as her field of specialization. Yet it wasn’t until she spoke with UNC-CH researchers about a study assessing infant care risk of obesity that Dr. Wasser identified nutrition research as her intended professional career. In the early years, Dr. Dr. Heather Wasser Wasser’s research looked at infant temperament and feeding behaviors. Previous studies had suggested that caregivers use fussiness as a cue to begin complimentary feeding, defined as the feeding of food and drinks in addition to breastmilk or formula. In a cross-sectional study with a cohort of lowincome black mother-infant pairs, Dr. Wasser assessed the association between maternal perception of infant temperament and complimentary feeding. The results found that babies who are perceived as fussy are more likely to be introduced by caregivers to complimentary foods before four months of age, a practice that does not adhere to feeding guidelines and recommendations.6 In fact, professionals recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, followed by complimentary feeding.7 The study also found that caloric intake may be higher for infants receiving complimentary feeding before 4 months of age, which may result in infant weight gain and, subsequently, obesity.6 Thus, these results call for maternal perception of infant behavior to be accounted for as an important factor for infant feeding in future research. They also call for the development of counseling
