Associate Professor
Rebecca Byrne
Faculty of Health,
School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences
Biography
Associate Professor Rebecca Byrne is an ARC DECRA Fellow (2023-2025) and Accredited Practising Dietitian who aims to support parents of young children and educators in the early childhood education and care setting to create calm and enjoyable mealtimes.Rebecca practised as a clinical dietitian in hospital and domiciliary settings before completing her PhD. After two years as a postdoctoral research fellow within CRE-EPOCH, an NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence in the Early Prevention of Obesity in Childhood, Rebecca was appointed as a lecturer within the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.
Her research focuses on what and how young children are fed. She has a focus on improving the measurement of dietary intake and other health behaviours in early childhood, and the promotion of responsive feeding practices which support children’s autonomy, development of healthy food preferences and optimal growth. Rebecca works with researchers across the disciplines of nutrition, physical activity, nursing, psychology and education and has successful partnerships with organisations such as Playgroup QLD, Children’s Health Queensland and C&K. She is a founding member of Australia’s National Nutrition Network: Early Childhood Education and Care.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Health,
School of Exercise & Nutrition Sciences
Keywords
Feeding practices, Infant feeding, Complementary feeding, Breastfeeding, Dietary intake
Research field
Nutrition and dietetics, Public health
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
Dietitian's Australia
International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) and ISBNPA Early Childhood Education special interest group
Associate Editor: International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity
Executive Member: National Nutrition Network - Early Childhood Education and Care https://www.nationalnutritionnetwork.com.au/
Teaching
Rebecca was the unit coordinator for the medical nutrition therapy and counseling units in the third year of the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Hons) from 2019-2022. She has coordinated and tutored across all year levels of the BND and BNSc including Nutrition Science, Dietetic Leadership and Management, and Food & Nutrition.
Publications
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Rebecca, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Effectiveness of an Early Childhood Intervention to Promote Healthy Child Development and Prevent Chronic Disease in Families Attending Community Playgroups: A Multi-Centre Cluster Randomised Trial
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- MRF1200764
- Start year
- 2020
- Keywords
- early childhood; exercise; nutrition; parenting; intervention
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Effects of a Prebiotic Supplement on Child Behaviour and Parental Quality of Life in Autism Spectrum Disorder (2022)
- Movement Behaviours in Pre-School Children from Rural Brazil: the Influence of Parents (2022)
- The development, validation and assessment of a food literacy questionnaire (IFLQ-19) (2022)
- Development and Evaluation of an Intervention Targeting Parenting Practices Associated with Obesity-Related Behaviours in Young Children Attending Playgroup (2020)
- The family food environment and its relationship with eating behaviours in early childhood (2.0 ¿ 5.0 years) and the implications for obesity development (2019)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.