Dr Katharine Roberts

PhD, MSc, RNutr

Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health

Honorary Lecturer

katharine.roberts@sheffield.ac.uk

Regent Court (ScHARR)

Full contact details

Dr Katharine Roberts
Population Health, School of Medicine and Population Health
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA

Profile

I am a Registered Public Health Nutritionist with a background in public health analysis, research and policy development relating to diet and obesity. I have worked in public health nutrition and obesity related roles at regional and national government level and have worked with local government, third sector organisations, academic teams and the commercial sector.

I was awarded a Medical Research Council doctoral studentship in 2011 at ScHARR which I completed in 2017. The focus of my thesis was to explore dietary patterns and measures of diet quality in UK adults and to investigate associations with socioeconomic variables and BMI. I held a senior role in the National Obesity Observatory from 2007 until 2014 where I developed guidance and delivered training on evaluation of weight management and dietary interventions for public health practitioners. I subsequently worked for Public Health England where my work included evidence review for the PHE sugar reduction programme, the evaluation of the Child Obesity Plan and nutrition intelligence analysis to support the work of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.

I have been a freelance public health researcher since August 2018 and also hold an Honorary Lectureship at SCHARR. My most recent publication was a collaboration examining the relationship between BMI, fast food outlets, diet quality and deprivation through analyses of data from the Yorkshire Health Study.

Research interests: I have a wide range of research interests including the social epidemiology of health and health inequalities, in particular in relation to obesity and diet; behaviour change theory; evaluation methods for weight and diet related interventions including development and validation of measurement tools; and infant feeding and nutrition. I am passionate about the translation of public health research into national policy and local practice and bridging the gap between these organisations.

Publications

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Journal articles

Le Brocq S, Clare K, Bryant M, Roberts K & Tahrani AA (2020) Obesity and COVID-19: a call for action from people living with obesity. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 8(8), 652-654.
Hooson (Jzh) J, Hutchinson (Jyh) J, Warthon-Medina M, Hancock N, Greathead K, Knowles B, Vargas-Garcia E, Gibson LE, Bush LA, Margetts B , Robinson S et al (2020) A systematic review of reviews identifying UK validated dietary assessment tools for inclusion on an interactive guided website for researchers: www.nutritools.org. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 60(8), 1265-1289. View this article in WRRO
Bush LA, Hutchinson J, Hooson J, Warthon-Medina M, Hancock N, Greathead K, Knowles B, Vargas-Garcia EJ, Gibson LE, Margetts B , Robinson S et al (2019) Measuring energy, macro and micronutrient intake in UK children and adolescents: a comparison of validated dietary assessment tools. BMC Nutrition, 5(1). View this article in WRRO
Hobbs M, Green M, Roberts K, Griffiths C & McKenna J (2019) Reconsidering the relationship between fast-food outlets, area-level deprivation, diet quality and body mass index: an exploratory structural equation modelling approach. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 73(9), 861-866.
Roberts KE, Ells LJ, McGowan VJ, Machaira T, Targett VC, Allen RE & Tedstone AE (2017) A rapid review examining purchasing changes resulting from fiscal measures targeted at high sugar foods and sugar-sweetened drinks. Nutrition & Diabetes, 7(12).
Cade JE, Warthon-Medina M, Albar S, Alwan NA, Ness A, Roe M, Wark PA, Greathead K, Burley VJ, Finglas P , Johnson L et al (2017) DIET@NET: Best Practice Guidelines for dietary assessment in health research. BMC Medicine, 15(1). View this article in WRRO
Albar S, Robinson S, Alwan N, Burley V, Finglas P, Harvey L, Johnson L, Ness A, Page P, Roberts K , Roe M et al (2016) P29 Best practice guidance for dietary assessment in research: DIET@NET Guidelines. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70(Suppl 1), A66.2-A67.
Clonan A, Roberts KE & Holdsworth M (2016) Socioeconomic and demographic drivers of red and processed meat consumption: implications for health and environmental sustainability. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75(3), 367-373. View this article in WRRO
Bryant M, Ashton L, Nixon J, Jebb S, Wright J, Roberts K & Brown J (2014) Framework of outcome measures recommended for use in the evaluation of childhood obesity treatment interventions: the CoOR framework. Pediatric Obesity, 9(6), e116-e131.
Bryant M, Ashton L, Nixon J, Jebb S, Wright J, Roberts K & Brown J (2014) The use and reporting of primary and secondary outcome measures in trials evaluating childhood obesity treatment interventions. BMC Obesity, 1(1).
Ells LJ, Cavill N, Roberts K & Rutter H (2013) Development of a Standard Evaluation Framework for Weight Management Interventions. Public Health, 127(4), 345-347.
Roberts K, Cade J, Dawson J & Holdsworth M () Empirically Derived Dietary Patterns in UK Adults Are Associated with Sociodemographic Characteristics, Lifestyle, and Diet Quality. Nutrients, 10(2), 177-177. View this article in WRRO
Bryant M, Ashton L, Brown J, Jebb S, Wright J, Roberts K & Nixon J () Systematic review to identify and appraise outcome measures used to evaluate childhood obesity treatment interventions (CoOR): evidence of purpose, application, validity, reliability and sensitivity. Health Technology Assessment, 18(51), 1-380.
Ells LJ, Mead E, Atkinson G, Corpeleijn E, Roberts K, Viner R, Baur L, Metzendorf M-I & Richter B () Surgery for the treatment of obesity in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Conference proceedings papers

Warthon-Medina M, Hooson J, Hancock N, Hutchinson J, Vargas-Garcia E, Gibson LE, Bush LA, Greathead K, Knowles B, Margetts B , Robinson S et al (2018) Nutritools.org an innovative website including a Food Questionnaire Creator for dietary assessment in health research. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, Vol. 77(OCE4)