Science / Health Policy

Joanne Ikeda, MA, RD
Cooperative Extension nutrition education specialist, lecturer in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and founding co-director of the Center for Weight and Health

Expertise:
Ikeda is a nutrition education specialist with the College of Natural Resources’ Cooperative Extension. She has done research on a wide-variety of topics in the public eye including childhood obesity, how income affects diet, children’s body image and weight discrimination among young people.

Contact:
(510) 642-2790
E-mail: jikeda@berkeley.edu

Additional contacts:
Sarah Yang, Media Relations: (510) 643-7741
scyang@berkeley.edu
Roxanne Makasdjian, broadcast: (510) 642-6051, roxannem@berkeley.edu

Background:
Ikeda is a nationally recognized expert on pediatric obesity and the dietary practices of ethnic and immigrant populations. She is a pioneer in conducting community collaborative research on the food habits and dietary quality of California's low-income, immigrant and ethnic populations, and has developed culturally sensitive and relevant educational programs for these groups. More recently, she has promoted the adoption of "size acceptance," an approach to the treatment of obesity that emphasizes health promotion rather than weight loss. She has authored or co-authored several books and training manuals designed to help health care professionals, paraprofessionals and parents instill healthy eating habits and encourage physical activity in children and adolescents. She is chair of the Weight Realities Division of the Society for Nutrition Education, a past-president of the 7,000 member California Dietetic Association, and was formerly the California delegate to the American Dietetic Association. She received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an M.A. from San Francisco State University.

She has extensive experience with broadcast and print, and is great with soundbites. She has been interviewed by CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and other prominent outlets.