Real-World Food Choice and Children’s Dietary Health

About the Project

Improving children’s dietary intake is critical to addressing childhood obesity, a public health priority – and central to this challenge is understanding the mechanisms underpinning children’s food choice.

This PhD project takes a real-world approach to explore children's food choices within the school setting. By examining high-quality, large-scale data, this work will provide valuable insights into children’s food selection patterns. It will offer insights into how children choose their food - and importantly, how healthier and more sustainable choices may be supported.

Ultimately, this research will generate new knowledge and understanding about children’s food choice parameters. Findings will have the potential to inform policy and practice in school food provision, both in the UK and internationally, with practical implications for food service providers. The increasing use of digital pre-order platforms presents a timely opportunity to capture detailed food choice data at scale – and this research will lay the ground for future interventions, focused on how children engage with such platforms. This work will also provide valuable knowledge on the methodological approaches relevant to large food choice datasets.

For information on how to apply, please visit the institution website.

Funding Notes

This is not a funded project, but you can apply for funding separately. Self-funding students are also welcome to apply.

For more information please visit the institution website.

Where will I study?

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is one of the largest research-intensive universities in the UK, offering a range of research degrees from Masters to PhDs (full-time or split-site), as well as professional doctorates. Our postgraduate researchers are a fundamental part of our vibrant research culture.

Project supervisors

Dr Hannah Ensaff

Career overview

Dr Hannah Ensaff is an Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds. She holds qualifications including MEng, PhD, and MMedSci. Dr Ensaff's research focuses on public health nutrition, food choice, and nutrition interventions, employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to assess dietary patterns and food choices within populations. Her work involves analysing national survey data and routinely collected food choice datasets, as well as conducting qualitative analyses to explore public perspectives on dietary intake, including plant-based diets and government dietary guidelines. She is also involved in the development and evaluation of nutrition interventions, with a particular interest in choice architecture and nudging food choices. Dr Ensaff has held various responsibilities, including serving as the Postdoc Champion for the Faculty of Environment. Her active research interests include food choice parameters among children and adolescents in school environments, dietary intake and food preferences in older adults, and data analytics to understand children's food choice behaviour.

Research interests

Dr Ensaff's research focuses on public health nutrition, food choice, and nutrition interventions. Her work employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to assess dietary patterns and food choices within populations. This includes the analysis of national survey data and routinely collected food choice datasets, as well as qualitative data analysis to explore public perspectives on dietary intake, including plant-based diets, fruit and vegetable consumption, and government dietary guidelines. Dr Ensaff is particularly interested in the development and evaluation of nutrition interventions, with a focus on choice architecture and nudging food choices. Active research strands include investigating food choice parameters among children and adolescents in school environments, examining dietary intake and food preferences in older adults, and employing data analytics to understand children's food choice behaviour. Additionally, she explores opportunities for better food choice through choice architecture in real-world settings.