Ms Kay Gibbons

Honorary Lecturer, The Royal Children Hospital

Qualifications: BAppSc(Melbourne) AIMM FDAA

Kay is Head of Nutrition Services at Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and Honorary Senior Lecturer Monash University. Kay is an Honorary Fellow of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and a Fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Kay has a particular interest in issues involving eating and behaviour, including childhood obesity and eating disorders, and the role of children’s early learning about eating. Current research projects include the LiveEatAndPlay project (NHMRC-funded) , aimed to reduce childhood overweight through an intervention provided by general practitioners, and the Moreland Project (funded by Victorian Government) which is encouraging healthy lifestyle through a school and community-based program. Kay leads the ‘Filling the Gap’ education program, the nutrition and physical activity support for the ‘Kids – Go for your life’ project.

As a part of providing a nutrition service within a hospital setting Kay also is responsible for the Food Service area, an integral aspect of providing nutrition care to patients, especially in a children’s setting. Kay holds a Certificate in Adult Education and a Certificate IV (Workplace Assessment and Training) and utilises these in promoting training to service level staff.

Recently Kay has worked in India on a mother and child nutrition project, funded by the Australia-India Council and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Publications (2002 - 2007)

Gibbons KL. The role of fats in the lifecycle:the primary school years. MJA 2002; 176 Suppl:S115-6.

Campbell K, Crawford D, Jackson M, Cashel K, Worsley A, Gibbons K, Birch L. Family food environments of 5-6 year old children: Does socio-economic status make a difference? Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002; 11 (Suppl.): S553-561.

Iuliano-Burns S, Saxon L, Naughton G, Gibbons K, Bass SL. Regional specificity of exercise and calcium during skeletal growth in girls: a randomised controlled trial. J Bone Mineral Research. 2003;18:156-62. Royal Children's Hospital. Paediatric Handbook, 7th Edition, Melbourne 2003. Bines J, Gibbons K, et al. Infant and Child Nutrition

Royal Children’s Hospital. Paediatric Handbook 7th Edition, Melbourne 2003. James D, Gibbons K. Childhood Obesity

Green J, Waters E, Haikerwal A, O’Neill A, Raman S, Booth ML, Gibbons K. Social, cultural and environmental influences on child activity and eating in Australian migrant communities. Child:Care, Health & Development 2003;29: 441-8.

McCallum Z, Wake M, Gerner B, Harris C, Gibbons K, Waters E, Baur LA. LEAP (Live, Eat and Play): Can Australian general practitioners tackle childhood overweight/obesity? - Methods and processes from the LEAP (Live, Eat And Play) randomised controlled trial. J Paediatr Ch Health, 2005;41:488.

Gibbons K, Naughton G, Wake M, Berner B, McCallum Z. Development and effectivenss of a resource for use in family-based intervention for childhood overweight and obesity. Obesity Reviews 2006;7:Suppl2:118-352.

McCallum Z, Wake M, Gerner B, LA Baur, Gibbons K, Gold L, Gunn J, Harris C, Naughton G, Riess C, Sanci L, Sheehan J, Ukoumunne OC, Waters E. Outcome data from the LEAP (Live, Eat and Play) trial: a randomized controlled trial of a primary care intervention for childhood overweight/mild obesity.Int. J.Obesity 2007;31:630-636.

Gibbons K. Interventions for childhood overweight and obesity – a place for parenting skills. Leading Article. J.Nutr.Diet. (in press)