Partner Feature: Dr. Meg Bruening
Pictured above: February 2024 Partner Feature: Dr. Meg Bruening, Professor and Department Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Penn State University .
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Dr. Bruening earned her Bachelor of Science in nutritional sciences from Penn State University in 2003, Master of Public Health in nutrition from the University of Minnesota in 2008 and doctorate degree in nutritional sciences from the University of Minnesota in 2012. Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. Bruening worked as a nutritionist in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed).
Today, Dr. Bruening is a professor and the Department Head of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State University and serves as Treasurer of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity’s (ISBNPA) Executive Committee. Her research interests include promoting public health nutrition, preventing diet-related diseases and increasing food and nutrition security among youth and families who are marginalized. Major topics in these areas include low food security risk and resiliency factors, developing and evaluating public health nutrition interventions, including school- and community-based programs, and the socioenvironmental influences of eating behaviors, such as the role of social support for healthy eating. In her free time, Dr. Bruening enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking, traveling and visiting breweries.
How did you first connect with the Center?
I have known Dr. Amy Yaroch for years and have been aware of the amazing work of the Center for Nutrition and Health Impact for quite some time. Dr. Yaroch and I started working more closely through ISBNPA, where she served as the chair of the finance committee for my first term as ISBNPA treasurer. She also served on the organizing committee when we hosted the 2022 conference in Phoenix, Arizona. I am doing some work on food security measurement and have hosted both a half-day workshop in 2020 and an ISBNPA symposium on this topic with Dr. Eric Calloway representing the Center. Julia Neiforth, a student funded from my Health Resources and Services Administration-funded graduate nutrition training grant–the Transdisciplinary Training, Education, and Leadership MCH Nutrition & Childhood Obesity Prevention (TRANSCEND) Program–completed her research training at the Center with the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) team.
What are you currently working on? Are there any exciting projects on the horizon?
I work in community- and school-based settings on food and nutrition security issues experienced by youth and families who are marginalized. I am very excited to share that we are wrapping up a five-year grant with my colleague, Marc Adams, at Arizona State University to examine the efficacy of school salad bars in 37 elementary, middle and high schools in Arizona using objective plate waste methods. This work was not necessarily about salad bars, but rather how we promote fruit and vegetable consumption among youth with limited income. Results will be published soon and we are planning our next intervention as a result of this work. I am also interested in exploring ways to better measure food security for college students and to better understand how discrimination and racism interact with food insecurity to impact health outcomes. I am engaging with youth to provide skills and systems of empowerment and address upstream solutions to food and nutrition security. I’m very interested in how we can expand Food as Medicine state-wide to families with limited income.
Much of your work focuses on promoting public health nutrition and preventing diet-related disease among youth and families who are marginalized. Explain to us what this work means to you and the difference you intend to make in the field.
I continue to be frustrated by the unjust historic and systematic inequities that impact communities which are marginalized, and I aim to make a positive contribution to the greater good of society through scholarship. We know that youth who have access to and opportunities for healthy eating have a better chance of thriving later in life. My hope is that my work informs policy and practice so that we can better use our limited resources to create health-promoting environments and advocate for healthy eating choices among those who are made vulnerable.
I am passionate about providing the best possible training and resources to the next generation of scholars and practitioners, particularly those who come from communities in which we work. I hope my work amplifies the lived experiences and voices of those who are marginalized.
Pictured above (left to right): Principal Research Scientist Dr. Carmen Byker Shanks, Head of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State University Dr. Meg Bruening and Executive Director Dr. Amy Yaroch facilitating the 2023 annual ISBNPA debate, BMI or not to BMI?
At the 2023 ISBNPA annual conference in Uppsala, Sweden, Amy Yaroch, Carmen Byker Shanks and you co-led the highly anticipated debate on how BMI is used in public health research and concrete strategies to implement or de-implement BMI as a measure of health. From your perspective, what makes BMI such a hot button topic? What do you believe the future of BMI will be?
This was a lively discussion in Uppsala! The field will likely continue to evolve, with a true spectrum of perspectives. The origins of BMI are based in eugenics and that alone is enough to question BMI’s scientific underpinning. Current BMI cut points are based on white, European populations, perpetuating the possible harm of the measure to stigmatizing and categorizing certain populations. Further, we have a more collective understanding of the harm that focusing on weight has on individuals. Strong research indicates that weight focus results in more weight gain over time. However, we also know that those with very high BMIs (i.e., those with BMIs>40) consistently have greater risk for poorer outcomes. I hope that we continue to assess BMI’s utility for the field. If we continue to use it as a primary outcome in practice and research, I hope we consider the context and other behavioral, social and environmental predictors and outcomes. As technology and research advance, I hope we identify more sensitive measures–both from a figurative and research perspective–to promote health and wellbeing.
In May 2024, ISBNPA’s 23rd annual conference will be held in Omaha, Nebraska. As part of the Executive Committee and Local Scientific Organizing Committee, what are you most excited about? What can attendees expect and look forward to?
I started attending ISBNPA as a graduate student and ISBNPA quickly became my favorite conference. The scientific program is always excellent and cutting-edge, and I find myself wanting to be at multiple sessions at the same time. The size and structure of the conference allows for deep connections and learning. ISBNPA invests and highlights the work of the next generation of behavioral nutrition and physical activity scholars through the Network of Early Career Researchers and Students of ISBNPA (NESI)—a group that is very active and dynamic. The keynotes are always inspiring and this year in Omaha will be no exception. There are strong international collaborations that began as a result of ISBNPA. In fact, in Omaha, we are planning to have an inaugural group to strategize how we can collaborate to enhance behavioral nutrition work among ISBNPA members. I hope to see you all in May 2024!
What advice would you give the next generation of nutrition and health equity researchers?
Take the time to build authentic relationships with community partners. This work moves at the speed of trust. With mutual trust, greater impact will come.
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Dr. Bruening is recruiting prospective undergraduate and graduate students to become trainees at Penn State University and affiliated universities to gain leadership skills and competencies in maternal child nutrition across the translational spectrum. Funding support is available.
Find out more information and how to apply to the TRANSCEND Program.