T Moffat
Biographic Data
| ID | 29350 |
|---|---|
| NAME | T Moffat |
| GIVEN NAMES | T |
| FAMILY NAME | Moffat |
| SIGNATURE | MOFFAT T |
| AFFILIATIONS | McMaster University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9273-0339 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 106 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
‘For us, we call it resistance’- conceptualizing resilience and its pathways among Arab Canadians
Considerations for diverse, equitable, and inclusive school food programs in the USA and Canada
School food programs have been shown to support the nutrition of children and their long-term health outcomes in tandem with reducing nutritional inequities experienced by low-income, food insecure, and racialized populations. Understanding the specific needs and outcomes of these equity-deserving groups is crucial when enhancing program implementation and participation in school food programs. A scoping review of equitable, diverse, and inclusiv…
A syndemic perspective on food insecurity, gestational diabetes, and mental health disorders during pregnancy
We Need Equitable Exercise Opportunities’
I thought we would be nourished here’
The relationship between diet/nutrition and the mental health of immigrants in Western societies through a holistic bio-psycho-socio-cultural lens
Cultivating critical and food justice dimensions of youth food programs
In this article we present accounts of two youth food programs operating at a Community Food Centre. One program, Kids Club, engages children, aged 6 to 12, in cooking and gardening activities; the other, Cookin' Up Justice, is directed to adolescents (13 to 18 years) and explores food justice concepts through experiential group cooking. A variety of ethnographic methods including participant-observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group a…
Be like the running water
Investigating the normalization and normative views of gestational weight gain
Objectives Gestational weight gain (GWG) is increasingly monitored in the United States and Canada. While promoting healthy GWG offers benefits, there may be costs with over‐surveillance. We aimed to explore these costs/benefits. Methods Quantitative data from 350 pregnant survey respondents and qualitative focus group data from 43 pregnant/post‐partum and care‐provider participants were collected in the Mothers to Babies (M2B) study in Hamilton,…
Synergies between the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease framework and multiple branches of evolutionary anthropology
The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis derives from the epidemiological and basic/mechanistic health sciences. This well‐supported hypothesis holds that environment during the earliest stages of life—pre‐conception, pregnancy, infancy—shapes developmental trajectories and ultimately health outcomes across the lifespan. Evolutionary anthropologists from multiple subdisciplines are embracing synergies between the DOHaD f…
Addressing embodied inequities in health
Objective: To disrupt cycles of health inequity, traceable to dietary inequities in the earliest stages of life, public health interventions should target improving nutritional wellbeing in preconception/pregnancy environments. This requires a deep engagement with pregnant/postpartum people (PPP) and their communities (including their health and social care providers, HSCP). We sought to understand the factors that influence diet during pregnancy…
Dietary practices among Arabic-speaking immigrants and refugees in Western societies
Knowledge about the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is independently associated with variation in diet quality during pregnancy
Environmental factors affecting development through embryogenesis, pregnancy, and infancy impact health through all subsequent stages of life. Known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis, this concept is widely accepted among health and social scientists. However, it is unclear whether DOHaD-based ideas are reaching the general public and/or influencing behaviour. This study thus investigated whether and under what…
Cooking up the “gastro-citizen” through school meal programs in France and Japan
School meal programs in France and Japan have become sites of bio- and gastro-politics in what amounts to a project of creating gastro-citizens. In the past fifteen years public health and education administrators have revamped school meal programs to promote nutritional health, food safety, quality, and national culinary traditions. Even though in both countries school meals are financially accessible to students of all income levels, lack of ch…
Cultural Dimensions of Food Insecurity among Immigrants and Refugees
Household food insecurity is experienced by many immigrants and refugees. Though culture strongly influences food and eating, little is known about the interaction between culture and immigrant food insecurity. Following Power's (2008) concept of “cultural food security,” we investigate three pillars of food security (food availability, access, and use) for immigrants and refugees living in a medium-sized city in Canada. Multiple perspectives on …
Comparing measured calcium and vitamin D intakes with perceptions of intake in Canadian young adults
Objective To identify the relationship between perceptions of Ca and vitamin D consumption and actual intakes to inform the design of osteoporosis prevention education. Design An FFQ was used to approximate usual monthly Ca and vitamin D intakes among a group of young Canadians. Qualitative interviews and a food card pile sort activity explored individuals’ perceptions of nutrient intakes. The FFQ was used to assess nutrient adequacy for individu…
Comparison of Infant Vitamin D Supplement Use Among Canadian-Born, Immigrant, and Refugee Mothers
Purpose:This study compares knowledge and practice of infant vitamin D supplementation among immigrant, refugee, and Canadian-born mothers. Method: Focus group discussions with 94 mothers of children aged 0 to 3 years recruited from early childhood centers and a refugee health clinic. Findings: Both immigrant and Canadian-born mothers indicated good knowledge and use of infant vitamin D supplementation. In contrast, Canadian government-assisted r…
Biocultural perspectives of vitamin D deficiency in the past
School meal programs and their potential to operate as school-based obesity prevention and nutrition interventions
Case studies of government-funded school meal programs in France and Japan are presented as potential school-based child obesity prevention and nutrition intervention programs. It is argued that this type of intervention takes a wider systems-level approach to obesity prevention by addressing the multiple dimensions of child obesity including: socioeconomic status and household food insecurity, and the need for experiential education about health…
"The "Childhood Obesity Epidemic
There has been a meteoric rise over the past two decades in the medical research and media coverage of the so-called global childhood obesity epidemic. Recently, in response to this phenomenon, there has been a spate of books and articles in the fields of critical sociology and cultural studies that have argued that this "epidemic" is socially constructed, what Natalie Boero (2007) dubs a "postmodern epidemic." As an anthropologist who has studie…
Adverse environments
Epigenetic and life history approaches to child growth are centered on the relationship between the organism and its environment. However, defining and operationalizing the concept of environment is challenging, in light of the multiple variables that influence growth. Moreover, the concept of adaptation as it applies to child growth is seldom considered in the developed country context. This paper presents a study of children living in three nei…
Determinants of variation in food cost and availability in two socioeconomically contrasting neighbourhoods of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Stature and adiposity among children in contrasting neighborhoods in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
It is hypothesized in this study that body size and shape vary by local area within the North American urban environment. This study tests that hypothesis by comparing stature and adiposity among children (of age 6-10 years) attending elementary schools in three neighborhoods that contrast by socioeconomic status and recent immigrant status. While the whole sample of children (n = 266) has 27.4% of children that can be classified as overweight/ob…
Meeting health need, accessing health care
Considering social and material resources
"The "Childhood Obesity Epidemic
There has been a meteoric rise over the past two decades in the medical research and media coverage of the so-called global childhood obesity epidemic. Recently, in response to this phenomenon, there has been a spate of books and articles in the fields of critical sociology and cultural studies that have argued that this "epidemic" is socially constructed, what Natalie Boero (2007) dubs a "postmodern epidemic." As an anthropologist who has studie…
Determinants of variation in food cost and availability in two socioeconomically contrasting neighbourhoods of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Meeting health need, accessing health care
Considering social and material resources
Be like the running water
The historical roots of high rates of infant death in Aboriginal communities in Canada in the early twentieth century
Diarrhea, respiratory infections, protozoan gastrointestinal parasites, and child growth in Kathmandu, Nepal
The differential impact of diarrhea, respiratory infections, and protozoan parasitism on growth is investigated among children under five years of age living in periurban Kathmandu, Nepal. The children's parents are all carpet‐making workers who live in an environment with crowded living conditions, poor sanitation, and contaminated water. Anthropometric data, both cross‐sectional and longitudinal, were collected over a 9‐month period. Morbidity …
I thought we would be nourished here’
Cooking up the “gastro-citizen” through school meal programs in France and Japan
School meal programs in France and Japan have become sites of bio- and gastro-politics in what amounts to a project of creating gastro-citizens. In the past fifteen years public health and education administrators have revamped school meal programs to promote nutritional health, food safety, quality, and national culinary traditions. Even though in both countries school meals are financially accessible to students of all income levels, lack of ch…
Breastfeeding, Wage Labor, and insufficient milk in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal
This article presents a case study of breastfeeding mothers who are working as carpet-makers in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal. A sample of women surveyed about their current infant feeding practices revealed that half of the infants aged three to four months had been introduced to non-breast milk foods and liquids. During in-depth interviews some mothers explained that they supplemented breastfeeding with either milk or solids if they felt that the…
Breast is Best? A Review of the Role of Breastfeeding in the Prevention of Infectious Disease
The hypotheses about how breastfeeding protects infants from infectious diseases are reviewed While there is strong evidence in favour of breastfeeding as prevention against infectious diseases, the exact mechanisms and duration of its effects still remain unclear. It is argued that basing the promotion of breastfeeding on so-called scientific facts is a dangerous endeavour, as medical information has been and will continue to be fanned by societ…
Urbanization and child growth in Nepal
The growth of children (0–60 months) of rural-to-urban migrant women was studied in a population of carpet-making workers in a peri-urban community of Kathmandu, Nepal. Mean height-for-age (HAZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ) z-scores are compared for two groups of children belonging to recent urban migrant women (resident <5 years) and to long-term migrants (resident ⩾5 years). The process of urbanization and adaptation to the city environment was exp…
Urbanization and child growth in Nepal
The growth of children (0-60 months) of rural-to-urban migrant women was studied in a population of carpet-making workers in a peri-urban community of Kathmandu, Nepal. Mean height-for-age (HAZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ) z-scores are compared for two groups of children belonging to recent urban migrant women (resident <5 years) and to long-term migrants (resident ⩾5 years). The process of urbanization and adaptation to the city environment was exp…
The historical roots of high rates of infant death in Aboriginal communities in Canada in the early twentieth century
Parents’ estimation of their children's body size compared to classification of children's nutritional status using the international growth reference
While debates abound about the appropriateness of using an international growth reference in low‐income countries and the use of cut‐off points as diagnostics for malnutrition, there is little discussion about the relevance of anthropometric assessment of children for the population of concern. While the issue of cultural appropriateness may appear to be an arcane anthropological question, it does have wider applied significance in the field in t…
A Biocultural Investigation of the Weanling’s Dilemma in Kathmandu, Nepal
The primary objective of this report is to use data from a study of infant growth and weaning practices in Kathmandu, Nepal, to investigate universal recommendations about exclusive breast-feeding up to 6 months postpartum. A secondary objective is to demonstrate the complexity of the biocultural nature of infant feeding practices. A sample of 283 children under 5 years of age and their 228 mothers living in a peri-urban district of Kathmandu par…
Evolutionary Aspects of Nutrition and Health
This volume of five edited papers is slim but substantive. The main theme of the volume is that humans are currently nutritionally out of synch with their genetic make-up, which evolved over hundreds of thousands of years prior to the Neolithic and the advent of the Agricultural Revolution. This type of evolutionary explanation for the proliferation of chronic diseases in the modern age was first introduced by Neel (1962) with the "thrifty gene" …
A reply to Bøhler
My response to Bøhler’s contention that ‘Universal recommendations for some weaning practices do make sense’ is presented in two parts. The first focuses on the more detailed criticisms of the article ‘A Biocultural Investigation of the Weanling’s Dilemma in Kathmandu, Nepal: Do universal recommendations for weaning practices make sense?’ (Moffat, 2001), the second on the larger issue of biomedical approaches to maternal–child health education.
Breastfeeding, Wage Labor, and insufficient milk in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal
This article presents a case study of breastfeeding mothers who are working as carpet-makers in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal. A sample of women surveyed about their current infant feeding practices revealed that half of the infants aged three to four months had been introduced to non-breast milk foods and liquids. During in-depth interviews some mothers explained that they supplemented breastfeeding with either milk or solids if they felt that the…
Diarrhea, respiratory infections, protozoan gastrointestinal parasites, and child growth in Kathmandu, Nepal
The differential impact of diarrhea, respiratory infections, and protozoan parasitism on growth is investigated among children under five years of age living in periurban Kathmandu, Nepal. The children's parents are all carpet‐making workers who live in an environment with crowded living conditions, poor sanitation, and contaminated water. Anthropometric data, both cross‐sectional and longitudinal, were collected over a 9‐month period. Morbidity …
Meeting health need, accessing health care
Considering social and material resources
Stature and adiposity among children in contrasting neighborhoods in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
It is hypothesized in this study that body size and shape vary by local area within the North American urban environment. This study tests that hypothesis by comparing stature and adiposity among children (of age 6-10 years) attending elementary schools in three neighborhoods that contrast by socioeconomic status and recent immigrant status. While the whole sample of children (n = 266) has 27.4% of children that can be classified as overweight/ob…
Determinants of variation in food cost and availability in two socioeconomically contrasting neighbourhoods of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Adverse environments
Epigenetic and life history approaches to child growth are centered on the relationship between the organism and its environment. However, defining and operationalizing the concept of environment is challenging, in light of the multiple variables that influence growth. Moreover, the concept of adaptation as it applies to child growth is seldom considered in the developed country context. This paper presents a study of children living in three nei…
"The "Childhood Obesity Epidemic
There has been a meteoric rise over the past two decades in the medical research and media coverage of the so-called global childhood obesity epidemic. Recently, in response to this phenomenon, there has been a spate of books and articles in the fields of critical sociology and cultural studies that have argued that this "epidemic" is socially constructed, what Natalie Boero (2007) dubs a "postmodern epidemic." As an anthropologist who has studie…
Biocultural perspectives of vitamin D deficiency in the past
School meal programs and their potential to operate as school-based obesity prevention and nutrition interventions
Case studies of government-funded school meal programs in France and Japan are presented as potential school-based child obesity prevention and nutrition intervention programs. It is argued that this type of intervention takes a wider systems-level approach to obesity prevention by addressing the multiple dimensions of child obesity including: socioeconomic status and household food insecurity, and the need for experiential education about health…
Comparison of Infant Vitamin D Supplement Use Among Canadian-Born, Immigrant, and Refugee Mothers
Purpose:This study compares knowledge and practice of infant vitamin D supplementation among immigrant, refugee, and Canadian-born mothers. Method: Focus group discussions with 94 mothers of children aged 0 to 3 years recruited from early childhood centers and a refugee health clinic. Findings: Both immigrant and Canadian-born mothers indicated good knowledge and use of infant vitamin D supplementation. In contrast, Canadian government-assisted r…
Cultural Dimensions of Food Insecurity among Immigrants and Refugees
Household food insecurity is experienced by many immigrants and refugees. Though culture strongly influences food and eating, little is known about the interaction between culture and immigrant food insecurity. Following Power's (2008) concept of “cultural food security,” we investigate three pillars of food security (food availability, access, and use) for immigrants and refugees living in a medium-sized city in Canada. Multiple perspectives on …
Comparing measured calcium and vitamin D intakes with perceptions of intake in Canadian young adults
Objective To identify the relationship between perceptions of Ca and vitamin D consumption and actual intakes to inform the design of osteoporosis prevention education. Design An FFQ was used to approximate usual monthly Ca and vitamin D intakes among a group of young Canadians. Qualitative interviews and a food card pile sort activity explored individuals’ perceptions of nutrient intakes. The FFQ was used to assess nutrient adequacy for individu…
Cooking up the “gastro-citizen” through school meal programs in France and Japan
School meal programs in France and Japan have become sites of bio- and gastro-politics in what amounts to a project of creating gastro-citizens. In the past fifteen years public health and education administrators have revamped school meal programs to promote nutritional health, food safety, quality, and national culinary traditions. Even though in both countries school meals are financially accessible to students of all income levels, lack of ch…
Knowledge about the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease is independently associated with variation in diet quality during pregnancy
Environmental factors affecting development through embryogenesis, pregnancy, and infancy impact health through all subsequent stages of life. Known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis, this concept is widely accepted among health and social scientists. However, it is unclear whether DOHaD-based ideas are reaching the general public and/or influencing behaviour. This study thus investigated whether and under what…
Synergies between the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease framework and multiple branches of evolutionary anthropology
The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis derives from the epidemiological and basic/mechanistic health sciences. This well‐supported hypothesis holds that environment during the earliest stages of life—pre‐conception, pregnancy, infancy—shapes developmental trajectories and ultimately health outcomes across the lifespan. Evolutionary anthropologists from multiple subdisciplines are embracing synergies between the DOHaD f…
Addressing embodied inequities in health
Objective: To disrupt cycles of health inequity, traceable to dietary inequities in the earliest stages of life, public health interventions should target improving nutritional wellbeing in preconception/pregnancy environments. This requires a deep engagement with pregnant/postpartum people (PPP) and their communities (including their health and social care providers, HSCP). We sought to understand the factors that influence diet during pregnancy…
Medicine (28 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Environmental health (18 works) · Geography (16 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (13 works) · Gerontology (13 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Demography (11 works)