Dr Caroline Horwath
Caroline's expertise is in the area of how to help people make sustainable healthy lifestyle changes, including changes in eating patterns. She has a particular interest in women's health promotion, psychological influences on eating habits and weight gain, and in innovative approaches to the management of overweight and obesity.
Important past publications
Gulliver P, Horwath CC. (2001)Assessing women's perceived benefits, barriers, and stage of change for meeting milk product consumption recommendations. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 101(11):9-18.
Gulliver P, Horwath CC. (2001) Women's readiness to follow milk product consumption recommendations: design and evaluation of a 'stage of change' algorithm. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 14(4):277-286.
Ling AM, Horwath CC. (2000) Defining and measuring stages of change for dietary behaviours: readiness to meet fruit, vegetable and grain guidelines among Chinese Singaporeans. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 100:898-904.
Horwath CC. (1999) Applying the Transtheoretical Model to eating behaviour change: challenges and opportunities. Nutrition Research Reviews 1999; 12:281-317.
Fernyhough LK, Horwath CC, Campbell AJ, Robertson MC, Busby WJ. (1999) Changes in dietary intake during a 6-year follow-up of an older population. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 53:216-225.
Ling AM, Horwath CC. (1999) Self-efficacy and consumption of fruit and vegetables - validation of a summated scale. American Journal of Health Promotion 13(5):290-298.
Wilson P, Horwath CC. (1996) Validation of a short food frequency questionnaire for assessment of dietary calcium intake. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50:220-228.
Campbell AJ, Busby WJ, Horwath CC, Robertson MC. (1993) Relation of age, exercise, anthropometric measurements and diet with glucose and insulin in a population aged 70 years and over. American Journal of Epidemiology 138:688-696.
Horwath CC, Campbell AJ, Busby W. (1992) Dietary survey of an elderly New Zealand population. Nutrition Research 12:441-453.
Horwath CC. (1991) Nutrition goals for older adults: a review. The Gerontologist 31(6):811-821.
Horwath CC. (1989) Dietary intake studies in elderly people. In: World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics. Basel: Karger 59:1-70.
Recent Publications 2008-2010
Leong S, Madden C, Gray A, Waters D, Horwath CC. Faster self-reported speed of eating is related to higher body mass index in a nationwide survey of middle-aged women. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 111: 1192-1197 (2011)
Horwath, C. C., Nigg, C. R., Motl, R. W., Wong, K. T., & Dishman, R. K. (2010) Investigating fruit and vegetable consumption using the Transtheoretical Model. American Journal of Health Promotion. 24(5):324
Nigg, C. R., Motl, R. W., Wong, K. T., Yoda, L. U., McCurdy, D. K., Paxton, R. J., Horwath, C. C., & Dishman, R. K. Impact of mixed survey modes on physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption: A longitudinal study. Survey Research Methods (in press).
Mainvil, L, Lawson R, McKenzie J, Horwath C. Validated scales to assess adult decisional balance to eat more fruits and vegetables. Appetite (in press)
Nigg, C. R., McCurdy, D. K., McGee, K. A., Motl, R. W., Paxton, R. J., Horwath, C. C., & Dishman, R. K. Relations Among Temptations, Self-Efficacy, and Physical Activity. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (in press)
Bradshaw AJ, Horwath CC, Katzer L, Gray A, Hawley GR. (2009) Non-dieting group interventions for overweight and obese women: what predicts non-completion and does completion improve outcomes. Public Health Nutrition 22: 1-7.
Mainvil LA, Lawson R, Horwath CC, McKenzie JE, Reeder AI. (2009) Validated Scales to Assess Adult Self-efficacy to Eat Fruits and Vegetables. American Journal of Health Promotion 23(3): 210-7, 2009.
Paxton RJ, Nigg CR, Motl RW, McGee K, McCurdy D, Horwath CC, Dishman RK. (2008) Are Constructs of the Transtheoretical Model for Physical Activity Measured Equivalently Between Sexes, Age Groups, and Ethnicities? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35,308-318.
Hawley G, Horwath C, Gray A, Bradshaw A, Katzer L, Joyce J, O'Brien S. (2008) Sustainability of health and lifestyle improvements following a non-dieting randomised trial in overweight women. Preventive Medicine 47 (6): 593-599.
Katzer L, Bradshaw AJ, Horwath CC, Gray AR, O'Brien S, Joyce J (2008) Evaluation of a 'non-dieting', stress reduction program for overweight women: a randomized trial. American Journal of Health Promotion 22(4): 264-274.
Horwath C, van Staveren W. (2007) Nutrition and ageing. In Essentials of Human Nutrition, Third edition. JI Mann and AS Truswell (eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press p502-514.
Current Research
With Department of Public Health Sciences, John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Universities of Georgia and Illinois, USA; co-investigators: Profs Claudio Nigg, Susan Schembre, Rod Dishman, Rob Motl. Mechanisms of physical activity and nutrition behaviour change. 2005- ongoing.
With Andrew Gray and Debra Waters (Preventive and Social Medicine), Clara Madden and Sookling Leong (MSc, Human Nutrition). Weight control practices and regulation of eating behaviour in New Zealand women: A nationwide study of women aged 40-50 years. 2008 - ongoing.
With Tamlin Connor (Dept of Psychology), Bonnie White (Human Nutrition). The influence of stress, mood and other psychological factors on students' eating habits. 2009- ongoing.
You can listen to an invited talk for the NZ Science Media Centre (2011) on non-dieting approaches using the 2 audiofiles and accompanying slides below.
PowerPoint Slides.
Recent media coverage of this research is available for you to read here:
Articles: Listener 24 Jan 2009 and Otago Daily Times Jan 2009.