Irene Van Woerden

• PHD
• Professor (Assistant) at Idaho State University

The human gut microbiome (GM) undergoes dynamic changes throughout life, transitioning from infancy to adulthood. Despite improved understanding over the past years about how genetics, lifestyle, and the external environment impact the GM, limited research has explored the GM’s evolution during late-stage adolescence, especially among college stude...

Background: There is growing interest in evidence-based interventions, programs, and policies to mitigate exposures to bisphenols and phthalates and in using implementation science frameworks to evaluate hypotheses regarding the importance of specific approaches to individual or household behavior change or institutions adopting interventions. Ob...

Background: Recent studies demonstrated that food insecurity rates among college students surpass that of the general population. Both academic and health implications have been associated with food insecurity. Aim: This study compared the prevalence of food insecurity among students at three satellite campuses with those at the main campus of a 4-...

Background: Research suggests that integrase strand transferase inhibitor use can lead to weight gain, and data from sub-Saharan countries are limited. This study investigated changes in weight in Namibians switched from tenofovir DF/emtricitabine/efavirenz (TEE) to tenofovir DF/lamivudine/dolutegravir (TLD). Methods: Longitudinal, retrospective...

Communities form an integral component of disaster and pandemic preparedness. This study aimed to explore disaster/pandemic preparedness—with a special focus on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—at the household and community level among residents within 50 miles of Idaho Falls. A structured online survey questionnaire was distributed, resulting...

Nuclear energy is proposed as part of the solution to a net-zero carbon future. However, environmental issues with nuclear energy remain. In this study, a total of 1616 participants from across the U.S. stated their position on the following statements: “Nuclear energy is a clean energy source”, “Nuclear energy may be part of the solution to climat...

Introduction: It is important for individuals and families to prepare for potential disasters to enable communities to generate a consolidated response. It is estimated that 30 percent of residents of the fourth largest city in Idaho, Idaho Falls, are not prepared to deal with disasters. A 1-day training workshop for healthcare professionals and s...

Voluntary caloric restriction (e.g., eating disorders) often results in alterations in the gut microbiota composition and function. However, these findings may not translate to food insecurity, where an individual experiences inconsistent access to healthy food options. In this study we compared the fecal microbiome and metabolome of racially and e...

Perception towards nuclear energy is a vital factor determining the success or failure of nuclear projects. An online survey obtained attitudes toward nuclear energy, opinions on whether benefits of nuclear energy outweigh the risks, and views of using nuclear energy as an energy source. A total of 4318 participants from across the U.S. completed t...

Understanding how social context is associated with behaviors can indicate circumstances when behaviors are more likely to occur. In this study 29,995 ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys from 805 participants were analyzed to determine the social context of when eating, drinking, physical activity behaviors, and none of those behaviors (n...

Political ideology is an increasingly powerful force in support of public policy. Historically, nuclear energy has found more support among political conservatives. This study updates the literature on political ideology and support for nuclear energy by examining how political ideology is associated with perceptions of nuclear energy and trust of...

The International Olympic Committee has identified mental health as a priority that significantly affects the physical health and safety of collegiate athletes. Interventions that improve diet quality have been shown to improve mental health in several populations. However, studies are needed to examine this relationship in female collegiate athlet...

The amount of physical activity reported using accelerometry can vary depending on the method used. This study examined variability in four different methods of calculating moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among older adults, as well as lifestyle correlates of physical activity. The MVPA data were captured ( n = 111; M age = 70.3 years...

Background: Given policy regulations restricting bisphenol A (BPA) in food-related products, and consumer concerns about adverse health effects, newer bisphenols such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS) have been developed. Exposure to BPA has been linked to dietary behaviors and poor health outcomes. Objectives: We sought to examine how...

A growing body of research among college students has estimated remarkably high levels of food insecurity when compared to food insecurity estimates from the general population over the past decade, with recent literature reviews reporting average prevalence rates of 33–51% compared to 9.8% among U.S. adults. Given these high rates of food insecuri...

Objective: We investigate how alcohol use and friendship co-evolve during students' transition to university. We discern effects of peer influence from friend selection based on alcohol use, whether such effects vary in strength across the school year, and whether alcohol has different effects on friendship formation versus friendship maintenance....

Introduction: Vaccine hesitancy (VH), delay in acceptance, and/or refusal to vaccinate is influenced by complacency, confidence, unmet safety, and efficacy concerns. A survey was conducted among U.S. healthcare students to identify factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Methods: The World Health Organization 2014 vaccine hesitancy g...

Background There is ongoing debate about whether friends’ greater similarity in Body Mass Index (BMI) than non-friends is due to friend selection, shared environments, or peer influence. Methods First-year college students (n = 104) from a southwestern U.S. university were randomly assigned roommates during the university’s housing process, effect...

Objectives While a growing body of literature acknowledges the role that close relationships have on nutrition outcomes, little research has assessed how significant others impact health during youth. This study assessed how being in a relationship during freshman year is associated with fast food consumption, restaurant meals, physical activity (P...

Purpose Identify how higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight discrimination are associated with romantic relationship formation and termination in young adults, and if the association was consistent for males and females. Methods First-year students (N = 1096) at entry to university (Time 1) provided BMI and self-reports of weight discrimination a...

Objective: To examine if first-year roommates made similar meal plan decisions. Methods: Residence information for 1186 first-year students (N = 593 roommate pairs) and 559 floormates was obtained for the 2015-2016 academic year. Linear generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to examine if the number of meals students used over the sem...

College students and their friends become more similar in weight status over time. However, it is unclear which mediators explain this relationship. Using validated survey measures of diet, physical activity, alcohol intake, sleep behaviors, mental health, and food security status, we take a comprehensive look at possible factors associated with ex...

Background: Emerging adulthood (ages 18-25 years) is a key turning point in the life course characterized by particularly poor eating behaviors (e.g., low in fruits and vegetables, and high in fast food) and weight gain. Emerging adults are also prime consumers of personal care and other consumer products that may result in differential exposures...

Some researchers have proposed the prevalence of food insecurity among college students is high due to students’ meal plans providing insufficient meals. The association between college students’ food security status and their meal plans have not yet been examined. In this study, United States (US) first year college students (N = 534) self-reporte...

Background Social relationships have been proposed as a significant factor shaping obesity risk. The first year of college, a period of major social, behavioral, and weight changes, provides a context well-suited to tracking longitudinally the impact of shifting friendships on weight outcomes. This study sought to identify social mechanisms impacti...

BMI.csv. Participants’ body mass index at each of the four time points (T1-T4). (CSV)

RSienaScript—friendship as a social mechanism. The R code to conduct deidentified analyses of stochastic actor-oriented models on the association between ego and alter BMI and friendship networks. (R)

Links_all.csv. Participant friendship links (ego and alter) nominations for each of the four time points (T1-T4). (CSV)

Recent research has documented high rates of food insecurity among university students, particularly students in their first year. Food insecurity among university students has been linked to poorer self‐reported health and academic outcomes. However, few studies have linked reports of food insecurity to objective student outcomes. In this study, w...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess how relationship status was associated with BMI and weight control behaviors among diverse college freshmen. METHODS This is a secondary data analysis of the longitudinal SPARC (Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College) study, which tracked college freshmen during the 2015–2016 y...

Background Studies have examined the associations between emotions and overeating but have only rarely considered associations between emotions and specific food choices. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to use mobile ecological momentary assessments (mEMAs) to examine associations between emotions and food choices among first-year c...

Background: To examine longitudinal associations between food insecurity (FI) and health behaviors/outcomes among a diverse sample of university freshmen. Methods: Freshman students (n = 1138; 65% female; 49% non-white) participating in the Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College study completed surveys on health behaviors an...

College populations are groups of emerging adults undergoing significant transitions in eating and diet, being exposed to new social influences; many experience weight gain. Theoretically, college campuses should be places where weight stigma is evident and matters for dietary decision-making. We present the findings from two studies conducted with...

Background The majority of nutrition and physical activity assessments methods commonly used in scientific research are subject to recall and social desirability biases, which result in over- or under-reporting of behaviors. Real-time mobile-based ecological momentary assessments (mEMAs) may result in decreased measurement biases and minimize parti...

Background: Food insecurity is a persistent public health concern; however, few studies have examined the factors related to food insecurity among college students, particularly college freshmen living in dormitories. Objective: Our aim was to examine the prevalence of food insecurity and associations with health outcomes among college freshmen....

OBJECTIVE To assess, based on gender, the prevalence of eating on‐the‐run and its relationship to eating behaviors, and weight status among college freshmen attending a large, public university in the Southwest region of the U.S. METHODS College freshmen (n=1078; 64% female; 52% non‐white) residing in campus dormitories completed a cross‐sectional...

BACKGROUND A lack of evidence exists on how food choices are related to emotional and social contexts, particularly for college freshmen who are still developing eating habits as they transition into adulthood. Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) repeatedly assess what participants are doing at a particular moment, providing real‐time data on e...

BACKGROUND Conversations about weight loss may impart feelings of dissatisfaction with one's weight, resulting in changes to weight perception. Self‐perception of weight has emerged as a significant predictor of BMI, weight status, and weight loss intentions. This relationship has yet to be observed in the college freshman population. OBJECTIVE To...