Professor Kay Gibbons

Kay’s experience is as a leader in children’s nutrition; she has worked across clinical, community and public health. Her clinical experience includes intervention in paediatric obesity and research in shared-care models of intervention. She sits on advisory panels for a number of research groups in this area.

Kay has been involved with local and state government on nutrition and physical activity projects, working with families and professional carers of children 0-8 years old. This has included needs assessment studies, education and development of resources for professionals and families, and has focussed on areas of disadvantage.

Extensive experience in development and management of large complex food services, and an interest in food at all levels, has led Kay to a position at VU. She develops the food service units and their positioning within the Bachelor of Applied Science with a Food Service major - an area with great opportunity for development and employment.

As an educator Kay’s experience includes program development and delivery in food and food services at professional graduate and Certificate level, and in nutrition and dietetic programs at undergraduate and graduate level.

Publications

Myers, J., Gibbons, K., Arnup, S., Volders, E., Naughton, G. (2015), Early childhood nutrition, active outdoor play and sources of information for families living in highly socially disadvantaged locations, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 51:287-93

Rogers, R.F., Paxton, S.J., McLean, S.A., Campbell, K.J., Wertheim, E.H., Skouteris, H., Gibbons, K. (2014), Maternal negative affect is associated with emotional feeding practices and emotional eating in young children Appetite, 80:242-7.

Myers, J., Thorpe, S., Browne, J., Gibbons, K., Brown, S. (2014), Early childhood nutrition concerns, resources and services for Aboriginal families in Victoria, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38:370-6.

Rogers, R.F., Paxton, S.J., McLean, S.A., Campbell, K.J., Wertheim, E.H., Skouteris, H., Gibbons, K. (2013), Do maternal body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint predict weight gain in young pre-school children? A 1-year follow-up study, Appetite, 67:30-6.

Wake, M., Lycett, K., Clifford, S., Sabin, M., Gunn, J., Gibbons, K., Hutton, C., McCallum, Z.A., Arnup, S., Wittert, G. (2013), Shared care obesity management in 3-10 year old children: 12 month outcomes of HopSCOTCH randomised trial, The BMJ, 2013;346:f3092.

Research grants

Project development: Dietitians Association of Australia. Development of model options for professional development, 2015, $30,000.

Host project manager: Victorian Government, Department of Business Innovation. SMP Business Development Grant Phase 2: Development of a new infant feeding teat, Industry associates: APS innovations, 2010-2014, $2.5m.

Project manager: Australian Government, Department of Health & Aging. Education consultancy & E-Learning tool, 2012-2013, $50,000.

Project leader: Victorian Government, Department of Education & Early Childhood Development. E-learning tool, WHO growth charts, 2012, $56,000.

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Gibbons, K., Myers, J., Brown, S. Child nutrition and physical activity – study in Victorian indigenous children. 2010 $30,000.

Content leader: Australian Government. Development of national guidelines for nutrition and physical activity for childcare. ‘Get up & Grow’. Consortium of Centre Community Child Health RCH, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Nutrition RCH, and CoPAAL (Australian Catholic University). 2008-2009, $700,000.

Professional memberships

• Fellow Dietitians Association of Australia (FDAA)
• Member U.S. Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics
• Member Institute Hospitality in Healthcare
• Member Australian Institute of Company Directors

Industry experience

• Management of a large and complex food service with class 1 Food Safety accreditation.
• Development of a new food service including production and distribution, from functional brief through design to staff training and implementation.
• Consultation on food service systems and design.
• Project lead for Victorian government SME grant ($2.5m), development of a new infant feeding teat. Working with an engineering design company. The prototype is now patented and in commercial production.
• Advisory panels for infant feeding products.