UCL DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE
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Alison Fildes
Research Assistant and PhD Student

EXPERTISE
Children's food preferences and eating habits, childhood obesity, twin research.

RESEARCH
Research interests
The main focus of my PhD is to understand food preferences in infancy and early childhood, and to develop effective interventions aimed at increasing preferences for, and intake of, fruit and vegetables. Specifically my research is investigating:
  • The aetiology and modification of children's food preferences.
  • The impact of early intervention on children's diets.
  • Heritability of food preferences and responses to diet interventions.
  • Design of effective dietary interventions.
Current research
The data for my PhD comes from two studies:

Trial of Advice on Starting Taste Exposure (TASTE): TASTE is an intervention study investigating of the impact of evidence-based guidance to parents on the introduction of vegetables, during the transition to solid foods. The TASTE study is part of a large European Union funded project entitled Habeat. The project's main objectives are to further understanding how food habits are formed in infants and young children and to propose strategies for changing these habits within early childhood.

GEMIMI Study: A longitudinal study of appetite and growth in a cohort of 2400 families with twins, followed from birth to 5 years of age. Data collection began in January 2008 and is currently on-going.

Qualifications
2007 MA Psychology, University of Edinburgh

Appointments
2010-present: Research Assistant, Habeat Project; Health Behaviour Research Centre, UCL.
2009-2010: Research Assistant, Gemini Study; Health Behaviour Research Centre, UCL.

PUBLICATIONS Cooke, L., Fildes, A. (2011). The impact of flavour exposure in utero and during milk feeding on food acceptance at weaning and beyond. Appetite doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.05.317.

Fildes, A., van Jaarsveld, C., Llewellyn, C., Fisher, A., Cooke, L., Wardle, J. (2011). Parental Feeding Styles in early infancy: are they shaped by maternal or child's characteristics? (In preparation).


This page last modified 25 Aug, 2011 by Mark Livermore

Alison Fildes
CONTACT DETAILS
Telephone:

+44 (0)20 7679 1263
Internal: x41263
Fax:
+44 (0)20 7679 8354
Email: a.fildes@ucl.ac.uk

Postal address: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health,
UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

Office: Room 210
1-19 Torrington Place,
WC1E 7HB

University College London- Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT - Telephone: +44 (0)20 7679 1720 - © 2012 UCL


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