Dr Diane Jackson

My research programme builds on previous work investigating the links between energy balance, lifestyle and body composition in children (Sparkle and Rascal Project projects).

As diet and physical activity are two of the most important modifiable health related behaviours related to chronic disease, there is an abundance of surveys, initiatives, interventions and community based projects aimed at assessing and improving diet and physical activity in all ages and social classes. These are essential in providing the data needed to inform government health policy. The diet and physical activity data collected in these surveys is usually limited and not well validated and there is a real need to improve the quality of the data collected without increasing the burden on researcher and volunteer. Therefore there is a need for simple inexpensive user friendly tools to measure Diet and PA if best practice is to be evaluated, and to effectively measure progress towards targets related to policy. The internet provides new opportunities for cost-effective tools to collect information on diet and activity to monitor the effectiveness of interventions to promote changes in lifestyle. These are particularly suitable for children who are enthusiastic users of computers (REALITY).

Since 2003 I have been an honorary lecturer in the Dept of Child Health at Aberdeen University, the editor of the Scottish Section committee of the Nutrition Society and a member of the European Childhood Obesity Group.
2008-present, Co-Chair ACERO

My current research aims to:

1. Develop an e-tool for assessing diet and physical activity in children.
2. Validate the e-tool against gold standard techniques.
3. Apply e-tool to community interventions designed to improve diet and physical activity.

Recent Publications

Jackson DM, Djafarian K, Stewart J, Speakman JR. Increased television viewing is associated with elevated body fatness but not with lower total energy expenditure in children. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 89: 1031-6.

Sneddon AA, Tsofliou F, Fyfe CL, Matheson I, Jackson DM, Horgan G, et al. Effect of a conjugated linoleic acid and omega-3 fatty acid mixture on body composition and adiponectin. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 16: 1019-24.

Nielsen SB, Montgomery C, Kelly LA, Jackson DM, Reilly JJ. Energy intake variability in free-living young children. Arch Dis Child. 2008 93: 971-3.

Speakman JR, Djafarian K, Stewart J, Jackson DM. Assortative mating for obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 86: 316-23.

Kelly LA, Reilly JJ, Jackson DM, Montgomery C, Grant S, Paton JY. Tracking physical activity and sedentary behavior in young children. Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2007 19: 51-60.

Reilly JJ, Kelly LA, Montgomery C, Jackson DM, Slater C, Grant S, et al. Validation of Actigraph accelerometer estimates of total energy expenditure in young children. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006 1: 161-7.

Elia M, Betts P, Jackson DM, and Mulligan J (2007), Fetal programming of body dimensions and percentage body fat measured in prepubertal children with a 4-component model of body composition, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, deuterium dilution, densitometry, and skinfold thicknesses. Am J Clin Nutr ; 86: 618-624

Jackson DM, Pace L, Speakman JR, The measurement of Resting Metabolic Rate in Preschool Children. Obesity 2007; 15 (8): 1930-1932

Speakman JR, Djafarian K, Stewart J, Jackson DM (2007) Assortative mating for obesity. Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 86:316-23.