Women's Nutrition Study Underway

Survey Aims to Provide Personalized Nutrition Guide

March 25, 2008
by Mimi Ko Cruz

Mary Ellen Frazier, an administrative analyst with parking and transportation services, needs help figuring out the best health and fitness regimen for her.

“I feel quite overwhelmed and daunted at how much work I need to do to simply feel better on a daily basis,” she said. “I don’t know where to start.”

Frazier has taken a step in a direction that will offer her guidance by signing up for a three-month study being conducted on campus through the Center for the Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles. The Women’s Nutrition Study, led by Michele Mouttapa, assistant professor of health science, is surveying 350 participants — female CSUF employees between the ages of 21 and 69 — through online questionnaires.

Mouttapa is conducting the survey with the help of Jie W. Weiss, assistant professor of health science; Archana McEligot, associate professor of health science; and Shari McMahan, chair and professor of health science. “We want to see why women choose to eat what they eat and help them plan a personal nutrition guide,” Mouttapa said. “The goal is to facilitate healthy eating, which constitutes a low-fat diet that covers all the food groups. I hope it makes a difference in the study participants’ lives and that they adopt a way of eating that keeps them healthy.”

Trina Robertson, a registered dietician with the Dairy Council, which is funding the study, said the survey will determine the dietary needs of each participant and help them set goals for healthy eating with step-by-step guidance through online intervention.

Frazier said she hopes the study “will provide me with the appropriate focus on where to start in my journey to better health and as such, improve my own personal quality of life.”