Amy Frith

Associate Professor, Health Sciences and Public Health
School: School of Health Sciences and Human Performance
Phone: 607-274-3712
Office: Hill Center G52, Ithaca, NY 14850
Specialty: Nutrition and Child Development

I am currently Associate Professor at Ithaca College teaching courses in nutrition and public health. Working with colleagues from Iran, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Sweden and the US, I have ongoing research on how food insecurity, nutritional status, depression, violence and stress influence women’s and children’s health in Bangladesh and in the United States. I also co-founded a local non-profit organization, Lansing Lunchbox, to address food insecurity. Previous research includes effects of nutrition on corpora lutea, causes of cell apoptosis, and identifying environmental factors that increase the transmission of zoonotic diseases to humans at the Centers for Disease Control. I really enjoy hiking and kayaking with my family, Ashik, Alex, Diyah and our 2 dogs (Mario and Watson).

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D.    Cornell University- Nutritional Sciences- International Nutrition
  • M.P.H.  Emory University- Global Health
  • M.S.     Michigan State University- Animal Science-Physiology

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Nutrition and child development
  • Micronutrient deficiencies
  • Nutrition program design and assessment
  • Stress
  • Violence in women
  • Social support
  • Childcare and social development

Courses Taught

  • Nutrition: Human Nutrition, Nutrition throughout the Lifecycle, Community Nutrition
  • Health Sciences & Public Health: Introduction to Public Health, Global Health, Community Health, Epidemiology, Health Research and Analysis
  • Graduate: Nutrition, Learning and Child Development
  • At Cornell University: Explorations in Global and Public Health

Selected Publications:

Nguyen, Hoa T., Amy L. Frith, Edward A. Frongillo, Cheri J. Shapiro, Christine E. Blake. Better parenting practices were associated with healthier dietary behaviors of young children, with modification by child difficulty in self-regulation. (in process)

Nguyen, Hoa T., Edward A. Frongillo, Christine E. Blake, Cheri J. Shapiro, Amy L. Frith. Earlier and concurrent food insecurity are associated with suboptimal parenting
in early childhood. Journal of Nutrition . 2020; 150.6:1590-1599

Swords, A., *Frith, A., Lapp, J. (*all authors contributed equally). Community-campus collaborations for food justice. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 2018; 8:261-277.

Frith AL, Ziaei S, Naved R, Khan AI, Kabir I,Ekström EC. Breastfeeding counseling mitigates the negative association of domestic violence on exclusive breastfeeding duration in rural Bangladesh. The MINIMat randomized trial. Public Health Nutrition. 2017; June 1-9.