[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][dsm_text_divider header=” Ashima K. Kant, PhD” text_alignment=”left” color=”#000000″ divider_style=”none” divider_position=”flex-end” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Open Sans|600|||on|||#000000|” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”30px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/dsm_text_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Professor and Chair, Department of Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences<\/p>\n
Biography [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” header_4_font=”Open Sans|600|||on||||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Research Interests<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Dietary patterns and their association with health<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Kant was in the vanguard of researchers who thought of diet as a multidimensional exposure by examining it as an \u201coverall diet\u201d rather than as single nutrients or food groups. This approach to the study of diet and health associations is now recognized as the \u201cdietary pattern\u201d approach and has become an intensely active area of research. In ongoing research efforts, Dr. Kant developed and examined the relation of hypothesis driven indexes of overall diet quality with the risk of mortality in several large US cohorts of men and women. These studies have used data from national cohorts with longitudinal follow-up (NHANES and NHIS), a large screening cohort (BCDDP), and the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study cohort.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Contribution of dietary attributes and meal behaviors to positive energy balance<\/strong><\/p>\n The intent of these studies is to understand the possible contributions of two different types of dietary attributes (meal related and overall diet related) to positive energy balance. Examples of meal related attributes examined included frequency and time of eating. Attributes of overall diet included low-nutrient-density foods, energy density of diets, and water intake. Another approach to asking the question has been to examine secular trends in dietary and meal intake profiles in the US population to understand whether these dietary and meal attributes show parallel the trajectory of body weight in the US population.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Socio-economic, regional, and geographic disparities in diet quality<\/strong><\/p>\n These studies attempt to understand the relationship of socioeconomic position (income and education) and ethnic minority membership status with diet quality and nutritional biomarkers. We have also examined secular trends in these associations to shed light on the possible role of diet in persistence of socioeconomic and race\/ethnicity and geography related disparities in the health of the US population.<\/p>\n Complete list of publications<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Google Scholar Profile<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0Recent publications<\/strong><\/p>\n Kant AK, Graubard BI.\u00a0Self-Reported Weekend Temporal Eating Patterns of American Adults Differ From Weekday: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys: 2015-2020 Prepandemic.\u00a0<\/a>J Acad Nutr Diet.\u00a02025 Feb;125(2):188-203.e10.\u00a0doi: 10.1016\/j.jand.2024.07.158.\u00a0Epub 2024 Jul 18.\u00a0PubMed PMID: 39032606; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11747926.<\/p>\n Kant AK, Graubard BI.\u00a0<\/span>Clock Time of First Eating Episode and Prospective Risk of All-Cause Mortality in US Adults.\u00a0<\/a>J Nutr<\/span>.\u00a02022 Jan 11;<\/span>152<\/span>(1)<\/span>:217-226<\/span>.\u00a0doi: 10.1093\/jn\/nxab327.\u00a0<\/span>PubMed PMID: 34718676<\/span>; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8754512<\/span>.<\/p>\n O’Connor SG, Reedy J, Graubard BI, Kant AK, Czajkowski SM, Berrigan D.\u00a0Circadian timing of eating and BMI among adults in the American Time Use Survey.\u00a0<\/a>Int J Obes (Lond).\u00a02022 Feb;46(2):287-296.\u00a0doi: 10.1038\/s41366-021-00983-3.\u00a0Epub 2021 Oct 20.\u00a0PubMed PMID: 34671108; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8799482.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Dr. Kant received a PhD in nutrition from the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in nutrition at the Johns Hopkins University, and a cancer prevention fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The focus of Dr. Kant\u2019s research is to understand the role of diet in health promotion with funding from the NIH and the US Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n