My research interests focus on diet, physical activity
and body size factors, their influence on the process of
growth and maturation, and implications for health and disease.
My work focuses on periods of rapid growth, including pregnancy,
infancy, and adolescence. Research areas include the role
of breast-feeding in maturation and growth, and the importance
of variability of body size in different population groups
for risk of disease. Current research focuses on adolescent
dietary components (calcium and dairy especially), and their
relationship to body composition, growth, maturation and
bone development. We are examining the need for adequate
weight and fat for bone growth to prevent osteoporosis in
opposition
to the concern of early maturation that increases risk of
reproductive cancers. I direct the Nutritional Assessment
of Populations program (NAP) and serve as Chair of the Department
of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences (HNFAS), College
of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).
Selected
Publications
NOVOTNY
R, DAIDA Y, ACHARYA S, GROVE JS, VOGT TM. Dairy intake is associated
with lower body fat and soda intake with greater weight in
adolescent girls. J Nutr 134:1905-9.
NOVOTNY
R, DAIDA YG, GROVE JS, ACHARYA S, VOGT TM, PAPERNY D. Adolescent
dairy consumption and physical activity associated with bone
mass. Prev Med 39:355-60, 2004.
NOVOTNY
R, BOUSHEY C, BOCK MA, PECK L, AULD G, BRUHN CM, GUSTAFSON
D, GABEL K, JENSEN JK, MISNER S, READ M. Calcium intake of
Asian, Hispanic and white youth. J Am Coll Nutr 22:64-70, 2004.
NOVOTNY
R, DAIDA YG, GROVE JS, ACHARYA S, VOGT TM. Formula feeding
in infancy is associated with adolescent body fat and earlier
menarche. Cell Mol Biol 49:1289-93, 2003.
HLA
MM, NOVOTNY R, KIEFFER EC, MOR J, THIELE M. Early weaning among
Japanese women in Hawaii. J Biosocial Sci 35:227241, 2003
AULD
G, BOUSHEY CJ, BOCK MA, BRUHN C, GABEL K, GUSTAFSON D, HOLMES
B, MISNER S, NOVOTNY R, PECK L, PELICAN S, POND-SMITH D, READ
M. Perspectives on intake of calcium-rich foods among Asian,
Hispanic, and white preadolescent and adolescent females. J
Nutr Educ Behav 34: 242-51, 2002.
