Tweets by amandaraffoul

Amanda Raffoul
BA MSc
​PhD Candidate

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Hear Amanda discuss her latest research

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Research interests: Dieting/weight management, obesity, eating disorders, weight bias, body image, systems methods, women and adolescent health

Education:
PhD Candidate, Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo (2016- )
MSc, Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo (2014-2016) (MSc thesis summary)
BA, Psychology (with thesis), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Windsor (2009-2014)

Publications:
Peer-reviewed

• Raffoul A, Kirkpatrick SI, Leatherdale ST. Weight management, weight perception, and health-compromising behaviours among adolescent girls in the COMPASS study. Journal of Primary Prevention, In press.
  
• Raffoul A, Kirkpatrick SI, Leatherdale ST. Dieting predicts engagement in multiple risky behaviours among adolescent Canadian girls. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2018, 109(1):61-69. https://link.springer.com/article/10.17269/s41997-018-0025-x 
  
• Kirkpatrick SI, Vanderlee L, Raffoul A, Stapleton J, Csizmadi I, Boucher BA, Massarelli I, Rondeau I, Robson PJ. Self-report dietary assessment tools used in Canadian research: A scoping review. 2016. Advances in Nutrition. 2017; 8(2):276-289. doi: 10.3945/an.116.014027. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=28298272
• Kirkpatrick SI, Raffoul A. User Guide for the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity (NCCOR) Research Measures Registry: Individual Dietary Behavior. 2016. http://nccor.org/tools-mruserguides/individual-diet/introduction/
  

Reports

• Kirkpatrick SI, Raffoul A. Sugar consumption among Canadians: a background paper. Report prepared for Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. 2016.
• Kirkpatrick SI, Maynard M,  Raffoul A, Stapleton J.  Interventions to reduce sugar consumption: a scoping review of systematic reviews to identify gaps in the evidence. Report prepared for Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. 2016.
  

Select Presentations:

• Raffoul A, Leatherdale ST, Kirkpatrick SI. Dieting and other risky behaviours among adolescent girls: Implications for obesity prevention initiatives. Canadian Obesity Summit 2017. April 2017. Banff Springs, Alberta.  
• ​Kirkpatrick SI, Maynard M,  Raffoul A, Stapleton J. Gaps in the evidence on interventions to reduce sugar consumption: A scoping review of systematic reviews.  Canadian Obesity Summit 2017. April 2017. Banff Springs, Alberta. 
• Kirkpatrick SI,  Raffoul A, Sacco J, Lee K, Chen E, Pasha S, Marcinow M, Orr SK, Hobin E. Evaluation of the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24) for use with children: An observational feeding study. Experimental Biology. April 2017. Chicago, IL.  
  
• Kirkpatrick SI, Maynard M,  Raffoul A, Stapleton J. Population health interventions to curb intake of sugars: Gaps in the evidence. Experimental Biology. April 2017. Chicago, IL. 
• Raffoul A, Leatherdale ST, Haines J, Kirkpatrick SI. Dieting predicts engagement in multiple risky behaviours among adolescent girls in Canada. The 6th Conference on Recent Advances in the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity: Understanding the Interplay between Physical and Mental Health. 2016. Ottawa, Ontario. 
• ​Raffoul A, Leatherdale ST, Kirkpatrick SI. The complex interplay between weight management and other risky behaviours among adolescent girls. Women’s XChange 2016. Toronto. Ontario. 
• Raffoul A, Leatherdale ST, Kirkpatrick SI. Weight management, weight perception, and health-related behaviours among adolescent females: A cross-sectional analysis of data from a school-based study. 13th International Congress on Obesity. 2016. Vancouver, British Columbia. 
• Raffoul A, Vanderlee L, Csizmadi I, Boucher B, Massarelli I, Rondeau I, Stapleton J, Robson P, Kirkpatrick SI on behalf of the behalf of the Partnership for Advancing Nutritional and Dietary Assessment in Canada (PANDA-C). Dietary assessment methods used in Canadian research: Implications for nutrition-related obesity research. 2016. 13th International Congress on Obesity. Vancouver, British Columbia. 
• Vanderlee L, Kirkpatrick SI, Boucher B, Czismadi I, Massarelli I, Robson P, Rondeau I, Stapleton J, Raffoul A, Senthanar S on behalf of the behalf of the Partnership for Advancing Nutritional and Dietary Assessment in Canada (PANDA-C). Dietary assessment methods and tools used in Canada: implications for nutrition and health research. International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods. 2015. Brisbane, Australia. 
• Chang FM, Kucharski B, Raffoul A, Tripp SE, Jarry JL. Secrecy of disordered eating behaviours among female undergraduate students. Canadian Psychological Association, the 75th Annual Convention. 2014. Vancouver, British Columbia. 
• Raffoul A, Jarry JL. Appearance-contingent self-esteem and its impact on reacting to a self-esteem threat. Ontario Undergraduate Thesis Conference. 2013. Toronto, Ontario. 

Recognitions:

• 2016: Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology
• 2016: President’s Graduate Scholarship, University of Waterloo
• 2016:  Provost Doctoral Entrance Award, University of Waterloo
• 2016: Graduate Entrance Scholarship, University of Waterloo
• 2015: Applied Health Sciences Graduate Experience Award, University of Waterloo
• 2015: Applied Health Sciences Senate Graduate Scholarship, University of Waterloo
• 2014: Graduate Entrance Scholarship, University of Waterloo
• ​2009-2013: Queen Elizabeth II: Aiming for the Top Scholarship, University of Windsor

Professional Activities and Networks:

• Chapter Representative, National Executive, Canadian Obesity Network-Students and New Professionals (CON-SNP) (2016-Present)
• Co-Chair, Canadian Obesity Network-Students and New Professionals University of Waterloo Chapter (CON-SNP-UW) (2015-Present)
•  Program Facilitator, Shaping and Helping Youth Form Tomorrow (SHYFT), YWCA, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, ON (​2015-Present)
  

 

Summary of MSc Thesis: Dieting and Health-Related Behaviours Among Adolescent Girls: A Longitudinal Analysis of Data from a School-Based Study

• Dieting to lose weight is extremely common among adolescents, especially girls, and is associated with poor diet quality, overweight and obesity, and increased risk of eating disorders.
• Dieting adolescent girls are more likely to engage in smoking, binge drinking, and breakfast-skipping than non-dieting girls but little is known about whether there is a causal link between dieting and these behaviours among Canadian girls.
• Using longitudinal data (2012-2014) from COMPASS, a school-based study conducted in Ontario (N=3,386), prospective associations between dieting to lose weight and clusters of health-compromising behaviours among adolescent girls were explored.
  • Over half of girls reported dieting to lose weight, while a similar proportion self-reported heights and weights corresponding with a healthy BMI.
  • Girls who engaged in dieting at baseline were at a significantly elevated risk of smoking, binge drinking, and breakfast-skipping at follow-up than non-dieters. Dieting was also associated with engaging in combinations of these behaviours, with the highest risk for engagement in patterns of binge drinking/breakfast-skipping and smoking/binge drinking/breakfast-skipping.
  • Girls who dieted at baseline were more likely to engage in a greater number of risky behaviours than non-dieters, regardless of what the actual behaviours were.
• These findings suggest the need for comprehensive interventions that incorporate a systems lens to consider the array of relevant factors that influence engagement in risky health behaviours among adolescent girls.