Understanding Eating Difficulties in Higher-Weight Children: Kaydee’s Work on an International Stage

My name is Kaydee, I am in the second year of my PhD which is part of the ENHANCE project. My research is interested in exploring ways to support children and young people who are living with higher weight and experiencing eating difficulties.

I recently attended the Science Cluster Childhood Obesity Conference in Denmark, a week-long event bringing together researchers from across the world working in many areas of childhood obesity. This ranged from technical laboratory research, such as genetics and proteomics, to large-scale public health work.

The programme covered a wide range of topics, including how the brain and body interact, the impact of food insecurity, and how environments and systems shape health. I found it valuable to step outside of my usual research area, focussing on eating difficulties in children and young people, and to see how my work fits into the bigger picture.  

I was there to present a poster about a systematic review, which explores how different interventions affect eating difficulties in children and young people living with higher body weight. A poster presentation is a visual way of sharing research, allowing people to ask questions and discuss findings in a less formal setting.

The conversations I had about the work were great. Some people were not aware of the range of eating difficulties that children and young people may experience, so it was rewarding to share this perspective. Other people were already working with these challenges in practice and were interested in how the findings from the review could inform their work.

The conference was a valuable opportunity to learn from others and to understand different elements of support for children and young people, and how it varies across countries. Frequent coffee breaks gave us lots of opportunities to have insightful discussions and make connections.

Overall, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend and to connect with researchers and professionals working to improve childhood health. The experience has given me new perspectives that I will carry forward into my PhD, the ENHANCE project, and beyond!