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Elsie M. Taveras, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Assistant Professor of Pediatric
Children’s Hospital Boston
Elsie_Taveras@harvardpilgrim.org
2007-2010 Cohort
Project Title:  "Developing Culturally Tailored Interventions to Reduce Disparities in Childhood Obesity"




About the Project:
This project aimed to develop and pilot test an innovative, culturally tailored intervention to prevent obesity among 2 through 5 year old, low income, minority children.  The intervention used an integrated information system (Internet and email) to support parents in preventing obesity and making healthy nutrition and physical activity behavior changes in their overweight children.

Biosketch:
Elsie M. Taveras, M.D., M.P.H. is an Associate Professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston. She received her bachelor of science and medical doctor degrees at New York University in New York City. After receiving her M.D., she did her internship, residency, and chief residency, at the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics, a joint program of Children’s Hospital Boston and Boston Medical Center.  In 2001, Dr. Taveras joined the Harvard Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program and received her Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in clinical effectiveness from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Taveras is the Co-Director of the Obesity Prevention Program at the Department of Population Medicine. Dr. Taveras is also on staff at Children’s Hospital Boston where she directs a multidisciplinary childhood obesity prevention clinic in General Pediatrics.

Dr. Taveras’ main focus of research is understanding determinants of obesity in children and adolescents and developing interventions across the lifecourse to prevent obesity in children, especially in underserved populations. Dr. Taveras’ publications have examined diet, activity, sleep, and weight determinants in later childhood, and early life origins of obesity in young children. Her Physician Faculty Scholars Program project was entitled "Developing Culturally Tailored Interventions to Reduce Disparities in Childhood Obesity."  The aims of this study were two-fold. The first was to examine the feasibility of using technology-based interventions to prevent obesity among children. The second was to develop family-based interventions to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among mother-child pairs.

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