Notable & Quotable

• Associate professor of health sciences, Zi Yan, was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal supporting the benefits of outdoor group exercise in the winter during the pandemic. Yan, who’s interdisciplinary research involves psychology, public health and exercise science offered that exercise classes provide physical benefits and much-needed social support, especially during the winter months.

• Assistant professor of health sciences April Bowling was featured in a Boston Globe story April 13, 2020 on how people should continue to exercise during self-isolation. Adhering to a fitness regimen that incorporates cardiovascular and resistance training is important for overall health, she told the Globe.

• Health Sciences Department assistant professor Juliana Cohen was recently featured as an expert source for a KTVA television report regarding a pilot program in Anchorage, Alaska to lengthen lunchtime and recess for school children as a means of improving academic focus. 

• Health sciences assistant professor Juliana Cohen was interviewed by both the Washington Post and Good Morning America (GMA) for a story on school lunches. Cohen says that because children learn better when they eat, schools should provide enough time to have lunch. 

  WATCH GMA SEGMENT

• Juliana Cohen, assistant professor of health sciences, was featured in a cnn.com article “How school lunches measure up in countries around the world” published April 9, 2018. “When kids eat healthier foods, this can have a really important impact on their cognitive functioning, which can then translate potentially to better academic performance,” she said. Cohen’s 2015 study, published in the Journal of the Academy of the Nutrition and Dietetics, was also featured. Her study found shorter lunch periods to be linked with less healthy eating among children. 

• April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, had a paper, “ADHD Symptoms and Body Composition Changes in Childhood: A Longitudinal Study Evaluating Directionality of Associations,” accepted for publication in Pediatric Obesity, a peer-reviewed medical journal covering research into all aspects of obesity during childhood and adolescence.

• School of Health Sciences Dean Kyle McInnis, Associate Dean Kevin Finn and Assistant Professor Zi Yan published an article, “Promoting Physical Activity and Science Learning in an Outdoor Education Program,” in the Jan. 5, 2018, issue of the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. In the article, the authors argue that Integrating physical activity and science learning in an outdoor education program addresses two challenges children face today: physical inactivity and poor science performance.

• April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, was interviewed for U.S. News & World Report’s Oct. 27, 2017, “Parent First” podcast on the possible link between stimulant use and obesity in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. People with ADHD “have consistently been found to have an increased risk of being overweight or obese,” Bowling noted. She added that adults with the disorder have about one-and-a-half times the obesity risk compared to adults who don’t have ADHD.

• Juliana Cohen, assistant professor of health sciences, co-authored a May 18, 2017, column for The Huffington Post on the Trump administration’s decision to rollback regulations associated with the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, an Obama-era initiative to curb this country’s obesity epidemic and maximize children’s learning and development. “We should not weaken the school lunch standards further,” wrote Cohen and her co-authors, Jessica Hoffman, Lindsay Rosenfeld and Edward Alan Miller. “Instead, we should truly make school lunches great by providing schools with the resources they need to offer the healthiest, best-tasting foods possible. Investing in the health and development of our youngest citizens is one of the most important investments we can make as a country.”

• Leah Poloskey, clinical instructor in the athletic training education program, has been selected to participate in the National Athletic Trainers Association’s Mentor/Mentee Program. The program uses mentorship to build a solid knowledge base and acquire an understanding of the balance necessary to becoming a successful researcher and educator in the field of athletic training.

• Kevin Finn, associate professor and chair of health sciences, co-authored two papers about teaching and learning methods aimed at improving academic success in the health sciences. “Student Expected Achievement in Anatomy and Physiology Associated with Use and Reported Helpfulness of Learning and Studying Strategies,” co-authored with professor emerita Kathleen FitzPatrick and former assistant professor Courtenay Dunn-Lewis, was published in the December 2016 issue of the HAPS-Educator, the official publication of the Human Anatomy of Physiology Society. The second paper, “Integrating Lecture and Laboratory in Health Sciences Courses Improve Student Satisfaction and Performanc,” co-authored with FitzPatrick and assistant professor Zi Yan, will be published in the summer 2017 issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching.

• Kyle McInnis, associate dean and professor of health sciences, was featured on a segment of Channel 4’s “Eye on Education” March 2, 2017. The piece highlighted the success of McInnis’ Active Science program, which integrates physical activity, technology and academic achievement in school-age children. “We’ve found that physical activity in children is at an all-time low, and we need creative and innovative ways to get kids moving,” McInnis said.

• Juliana Cohen, assistant professor of health sciences, was named a fellow at the Obesity Society, the leading scientific organization dedicated to the study of obesity. The appointment, which recognizes exemplary contributions to the field of obesity research, treatment and prevention, is one of the highest honors awarded by the society. Cohen was cited for her ongoing research and publications on child nutrition, especially in economically vulnerable populations.

• April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, was quoted in a Jan. 9, 2017, story in MedPage Today about the behavioral benefits of aerobic exercise for children with behavioral health disorders. “The big takeaway from this study is that kids with these types of (behavioral) challenges may not need a lot of aerobic exercise to see big improvements in classroom behavior,” Bowling said. “But it is really important to find modes of exercise that appeal to them, and work within the existing structures of school.”