Public health senior looks at global diet disparities
In one project, Emile Charles studies what children are drinking in Jamaica, where obesity has increased dramatically.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, senior Emile Charles makes it his mission to learn about dietary inequities in communities across the world.
“I take almost every opportunity I can to see a new place and learn a little bit about different cultures and communities,” Charles says. “It’s important for me because my background is such a cultural mix. I see value in what it means to be from a different place.”
The public health major got his first taste of nutritional research with the Food, Fitness and Opportunity Research Collaborative. Under the guidance of Carolina nutrition professor Molly DeMarco, Charles contributed to a study detailing how the FFORC practices anti-racism in their research. He has also aided their assessment of a fruit and vegetable assistance program from the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with one of their community garden partners in Hillsborough.
Streamlining research across a variety of projects and teams can be difficult, but Charles has found a way to do it all. While much of his work has taken place in the state, some has sent him a little further away — to Africa and the Caribbean.
“But because of all these experiences I’ve had, I know where these data points might have come from,” Charles says. “You have a better idea about the person who purchased the food, who completed the survey, and even what the interaction between them and the cashier at the grocery store may have looked like.”
Charles’ current project takes place at the Global Food Research Program in the Carolina Population Center. The study will create a model to accurately predict children’s beverage consumption patterns using survey responses from students and schools in Kingston, Jamaica.
“We’re trying to understand how different characteristics and demographics might determine their nutritional status and what they really do consume,” Charles explains.
From 1975 to 2016, Jamaica’s obesity rate doubled, increasing from 1% to 13% in the children. Obesity is linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure and coronary artery disease, to name a few, so a hard look at childhood rates is critical for the long-term health of communities.
This research team wants to know which beverages schools provide, what’s marketed to children, what they’re encouraged to drink at home, and what they actually drink. Then Charles examines data from the surveys to find common factors that significantly influence these kids’ consumption.
“This kind of work was an unintentional jump,” Charles says. “I don’t know if I intended to get super into data and food categorization, but I think I’ve learned a lot about quantitative research.”
While the last three years of his research career have provided him with a data-crunching skillset, Charles savors the fieldwork side of nutritional research and, eventually, hopes to be the type of doctor who prescribes fruits and vegetables to his patients.
“I want to consider all the inequities that might exist in food access, distribution and knowledge,” he says.
