Rui Ma

Profile

I am from China, and am pursuing a PhD study under the supervision of Dr Hannah Ensaff and Professor Yunyun Gong at the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds. Previously I studied food quality with retail management at Harper Adams University and Beijing University of Agriculture (2018), and also hold an MSc in food security from the University of Glasgow (2019).

Research interests

My PhD is focused on children’s food choice and the home food environment (HFE) in China. I will study this topic with three components. The first component of my project involves a questionnaire with parents who have a 6-11 years old child, to try to understand the key components of the HFE in Chinese families. The data will be examined to explore the relationship between the HFE and influencing factors such as family income and parents’ education level. The next component involves conducting focus groups with children aged 6-11 years old and their parents, to examine perceptions and perspectives towards the HFE. The final component of my project involves an intervention with families who have 6-11 years old children. Findings from this project will provide a greater understanding of the HFE in Chinese families and how HFE shapes children’s food choice. The findings will essentially support the development of a home-based dietary intervention.  More broadly, it will inform targeted intervention for effectively reducing childhood under- and over-nutrition, and related non-communicable diseases in the long run. 

Qualifications

• MSc, Food Security
• BA, Food Quality with Retail Management