Associate Professor Lesley MacDonald-Wicks

Dr Lesley MacDonald-Wicks

Dr Lesley MacDonald-Wicks

What are your research interests?

  • Maternal and child nutritional intake and health outcomes
  • Gestational Diabetes
  • Anthropometry and dietary intake as markers of health and wellness including mental wellness

Why did you get into research? 

I love the idea of pushing back the boundaries of what we know and don't know to see if we can assist people to make better health and nutrition choices.

What would be the ultimate goal for your research?

To assist people to make great nutrition choices.

Brief Profile

Recently Associate Lesley MacDonald-Wicks has focused on her interest in maternal and child nutrition. She has interest in the developmental origins of disease, where the early life stages influence the health outcomes of individuals, particularly focusing on nutrition in pregnancy and the post-partum period. Recently this interest has focused on post-partum weight gain and the role of diet in the treatment /management of Gestational Diabetes (GDM) and/or the ongoing prevention to development of type two diabetes mellitus in women.

MacDonald-Wicks also has a newly developed interest in the role of breakfast in body composition and long-term health outcomes. She is the primary co-developer of the Average Australian Women project and its offshoot, the typical Aussie bloke. These studies are designed to look in depth into factors that determine the way body composition and body image develop over life ... in particular focusing on breakfast as a key behaviour that can determine body composition, health outcomes and good mental health.

Future Focus

I am working towards simple and clear nutritional messages and behaviours that will assist people in making good health and nutrition choices.

Specialised/Technical Skills 

  • Practical application of nutritional biomarkers
  • Diet methodology

Affiliations