Nellie Triedman
«Adolescent obesity, wellbeing, and mental health in Santiago, Chile»
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Project Proposal
Childhood obesity has become a major public health problem in Latin America. This project seeks to improve our understanding of the psychological factors and developmental problems associated with childhood obesity. To accomplish this, I will collaborate with a research team to develop and incorporate measurements of mental health, behavioral heath, and wellbeing into the Growth and Chilean Cohort Study (GOCS)- a large longitudinal study in Santiago, Chile.
Sports and running competitively has always been very important to me. During my time in Chile, I hope to use sports participating as a way to engage with the local community and promote health in a culturally respectful and positive way. I hope to use my coaching skills to collaborate with local middle schools and high schools to encourage children, and especially girls to be more physically active.
I see this Fulbright as the basis of career and educational development. Upon completion of the Fulbright Fellowship, I want to continue to explore motivation, decision-making, and health behavior in children and adolescents by pursing a doctoral degree in nursing practice, with an emphasis on public health and community psychology.
Final Report
My project was to adapt a validated quality of life survey scale, that could then be applied to a cohort of 1,200 adolescents enrolled a big longitudinal study called GOCS Santiago, Chile. This research was conducted at INTA (Instituto de Nutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos)- which is a very large research institution with connections to the ministry of health and industry- which does research on diet, obesity, and prevention on chronic diseases. I was able to complete my work, in large part because of the excellent structure, and easy access to educational facilities and research materials that INTA provides.
My host affiliation (INTA) remained the same during my application period, post-selection period and upon arrival. I found my host affiliation through Dr. Karin Michaels, who my mom used to work with at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and who also had connection to Dr. Camila Corvalan in Chile. Through conducting this research project, I forged strong connections at INTA, and especially with the other researchers working on the ECO study. Although I didn’t take classes, and thus didn’t get to know any Deans, I did form a very positive professional connection with my advisor Camila Corvalán.
I would definitely encourage people to do some language preparation and lit review to try to concretize their project before embarking on Fulbright. I would also recommend that they recommend and try to touch base with their advisors before arriving in Chile (although it may not always work out.) Also, if need be, I would recommend that they get IRB approval for their project as soon as possible after arriving in country.
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Proposal:
Final Presentation:
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