David Ryan
- Email: fsdmr@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Adolescents' Dietary Behaviour and the School Environment
- Supervisor: Dr Hannah Ensaff, Dr Mel Holmes
Profile
I studied Applied Psychology at University College Cork, graduating in 2013. I also hold an MSc in Applied Social Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London, graduating in 2015. Prior to coming to Leeds, I worked as a research assistant on the CHANGES (Challenging Hazing and Negative Group Events in Sport) Intervention at the University of Chester.
Research interests
My PhD is focused on adolescents’ dietary behaviours and the school environment. The first component of my project will involve conducting focus groups with secondary school students, to understand how and why they make their food choices within the school environment. The next component will involve observing food preparation in schools, along with gathering cashless catering data. This cashless catering data will then be linked to nutritional composition data for each school’s food provision. In doing so, the project aims to ascertain the real-time food choice patterns of secondary school children, along with their perceptions of their own dietary behaviour. Findings from this project will provide greater understanding of adolescents’ food choice behaviour, along with their potential nutritional implications. The findings will also inform and support the development of a future school-based dietary intervention.
Qualifications
- MSc, Applied Social Psychology
- BA, Applied Psychology