Laura Bellows, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.N., is a Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences. She is a public health nutrition scientist whose research program centers on developing, evaluating, and translating evidence-based interventions that improve nutrition, physical activity, and health among children and families.
Her interdisciplinary research integrates nutrition, physical activity, behavioral science, implementation science, and digital health to develop evidence-based interventions in partnership with communities. Working collaboratively with families, caregivers, educators, and community organizations, her research informs programs, practice, and policy to improve health.
Dr. Bellows' research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and numerous foundations. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the Evelyn Edwards Milman Faculty Fellowship from Cornell University's Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and the American Society for Nutrition's Excellence in Nutrition Fellow. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists. Her work is guided by the belief that the greatest impact in public health comes from research that is driven by community priorities, grounded in rigorous science, and designed to create knowledge that improves health.
Keywords
community-engaged research, translational science, maternal child nutrition, physical activity, early childhood, health equity, public health impact
My research focuses on developing, evaluating, and translating interventions that improve nutrition, physical activity, and health among children and families. I work with community partners to identify important public health questions and design research that generates knowledge that communities, organizations, and policymakers can use to improve health.
My work integrates nutrition, behavioral science, implementation science, and digital health to develop interventions that are grounded in rigorous science and responsive to community priorities. I am particularly interested in understanding how interventions can be designed, implemented, and sustained in ways that improve health while reducing health inequities.
Much of my research is centered on maternal and child nutrition and early childhood health, with a particular interest in how healthy eating and physical activity are shaped during the early years. I study how families, caregivers, communities, and child care settings influence those behaviors and how interventions can be designed to fit the communities they serve and improve health outcomes.
NS 1400
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Introduction to Human Biology, Health and Society
NS 4500
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Public Health Nutrition
Below are select publications from the last 3 years. For a full list of my publications, please visit my Google Scholar page.
* Student/Postdoc
Carmona, B.A.*, Reyes, L.I.*, Orman, M.C.*, Bellows, L.L. (In Press). A Path Analysis Examination of Factors Affecting Early Childhood Educators’ Health, Burnout, and Turnover. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28205-3
Altares, A.,* Cleary, R., Bellows, L.L. Chennault, C., Mueller, M.P. (2026). Association of Income and Coping Strategies Among Food Insecure Households in a High Cost-Of-Living Region. Health Affairs Scholars, qxag076, https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag076
Orman, MC*, Reyes, L.I.*, Gilbert, C.*, Freimuth, E.M.*, Meyerson, Z.G.*, Carmona, B.A.*, Bellows, L.L. (2026). Social Support and Strain amongst Early Childhood Educators: Insights from Experiences in the Workplace. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-026-02166-z
Carmona, B.A.*, Gomez, V.*, Oke, S.*, Reyes, L.*, Bellows, L.L. (2026). The Relationship between Health Literacy, Nutrition Literacy and Food Literacy and Dietary Behaviors in Adults: A Systematic Review. Nutrition Reviews, nuag041. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuag041
Oke, S.*, Reyes, L.I.*, Johnson, S.L., Bellows, L.L. (2026). Designing for the End User: A Framework for Digital Health Intervention Development from a User-Centered Design Perspective. Journal of Nutrition Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2025.11.011
Kowalski, A.J., Armstrong, B., Trude, A.C.B., Arbaiza, R., Czinn, A., Bellows, L.L., Johnson, S.L., Wang, Y., Hager, E.R., Black, M.M. (2025). Creating Healthy Habits for Maryland Preschoolers (CHAMP): a cluster-randomized controlled trial among childcare centers. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 22(156). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-025-01824-6
Yu, Y., Altares, A., Leib, A., Bellows, L.L., Berry, C., Graham, D.J., Mueller, M.P. (2025). Sociodemographic Disparities in Health Literacy Among American Adults. Preventive Medicine Reports, 103179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2025.103179
Zang, N.*, Johnson, S.L., Chamberlin, B., Bellows, L.L. (2025) Preschoolers’ Physical Activity Outcomes Using Mobile Apps Compared to Traditional Physical Education Activities. mHealth, 11,25. https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth-24-78
Reyes, L.I.*, Johnson, S.L., Oke, S.*, Carmona, B.A.*, Bellows, L.L. (2025). Understanding Parents’ Digital Use and Preferences for a m-Health Intervention, in Low-Income Rural Settings. Health Education Research, 40(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyaf024
Carmona, B.A.*, Deng, L.*, Gilbert, C.*, Freimuth, E.*, Xie, R.*, Bellows, L.L. (2025) Prioritizing Early Childhood Educators Health: Insights for Worksite Health Promotion Efforts. Childhood Obesity, 21(3), 242-258. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2024.0366
Love, E.*, Jablonksi, B., Thilmany, D., Bellows, L., McCloskey, M. (2025). A Baseline Assessment of School Food Spending and Local Procurement: Exploring the Case of Colorado's Farm to School State Incentive and Other Public Policies. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 1-29. http://doi.org/10.1017/age.2025.11
Bellows, L.L., Oke, S.*, Reyes, L.I.*, Carmona, B.A.*, Johnson, S.L. (2025). Development of a Digital Parent Intervention to Promote Healthy Eating and Activity in Preschoolers: The eHEROs Study. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 57(5), 450-459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2025.01.008
Stein, R., Finnie, R. Haromon, S., Peng, Y., Pritchard, C., Vecsey, H., Emmons, K., Hartgarten, S., Simon, M., Blanck, H., Harris, D., Bellows, L., Coleman-Jensen, A., Fleishhacker, S., Odoms-Young, A., Seligman, H., Grant, C., Powell, A., and the Community Preventive Services Task Force. (2025). Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Programs: A Community Guide Systematic Review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 68(3), 627-637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2024.11.016
Kielb, E. I., Moding, K. J., Johnson, S. L., Beaulieu, B. A., Connolly, B. A., Faroh, S. J., & Bellows, L.L. (2024). Opportunities for Extension Educators to Support Caregivers Feeding Infants and Toddlers through Nutrition Education. The Journal of Extension, 62(3), Article 28. https://open.clemson.edu/joe/vol62/iss3/28
2007,
Ph.D.,
Community Nutrition,
Colorado State University
1999,
M.P.H.,
Human Nutrition,
University of Michigan
1997,
B.S.,
Exercise Science & Health Promotion,
Miami University