Meet the Researcher: Dr Gina Trapp

Dr Gina Trapp is the Head of Food and Nutrition – driven to leading her team in becoming a hub of child and adolescent nutrition research globally.

Gina Trapp

Dr Gina Trapp is the Head of Food and Nutrition – driven to leading her team in becoming a hub of child and adolescent nutrition research globally, while also being a valuable collaborator to other researchers, governments, organisations, and service providers.

Dr Gina Trapp is Head of Food and Nutrition Research at The Kids Research Institute Australia and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow at the University of Western Australia. She has a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition & Psychology) with First Class Honours, a PhD in Public Health from The University of Western Australia and is a Registered Public Health Nutritionist recognised by the Nutrition Society of Australia.

During my undergraduate degree in Health Science (Nutrition) I was shocked to learn about the poor dietary habits of Australians – 1 in 4 children are overweight and obese. Why isn’t the government doing more to address this? I want to be part of the solution and thought that by pursuing a career in research I could help make a difference – that to me seemed like a pretty rewarding career choice.

Dr Trapp has over 18 years of research experience and has worked across a wide range of projects spanning the obesity prevention areas of nutrition, physical activity and built environments. These projects have focused on the design, implementation and interpretation of large-scale population surveys, cohort studies and natural experiments aimed at understanding and influencing obesity-risk behaviours in children and adults to improve population health.

The quality and impact of Gina’s research has been formally recognised at the state, national and international-level including the prestigious, ‘Young Tall Poppy Science Award’, the Australian Health Promotion Association’s, ‘Excellence in Health Promotion Practice Award’, and the New York Centre for Active Design’s, ‘International Award for Urban Design Excellence’.

I love how working in research is a continual learning journey – there is always something new to discover. You get to pursue your interests, hone your problem-solving skills and continually challenge yourself in new ways.

First published Tuesday 21 June 2022.

Why is The Kids a home for your research?

The Kids Research Institute Australia has always had a reputation for being one of the best child health research institutions in Australia, so when I had the opportunity to join the Institute in 2012 I considered it to be an incredible privilege (and still do!). The Institute’s vision, ‘Happy, Healthy, Kids’ is a cause I genuinely believe in and want to contribute to.

The Institute’s level of support for Early Career Researchers is phenomenal – they offer mentoring and leadership programs, seed funding grants, travel awards, publication awards, early career excellence awards, salary support, this Illuminate Award! – all of which are instrumental in helping to build a competitive track record for a long and successful career in research. In additional to all the incredible facilities the Institute provides (e.g. beautiful office spaces, IT/Finance/Grant/Communication support) the people that work at The Kids are passionate and driven, have high integrity and are all here to achieve the same vision. To be able to work alongside likeminded people that want to make a difference continually inspires me in my role.

What opportunity did this funding present?

This Illuminate Award will enable me to kick start a new program of research focusing on improving the nutritional quality of Kids Menus in cafes and restaurants. I’m shocked at how unhealthy Kids Menus are – nothing but chicken nuggets and chips, burgers and chips or fish and chips – all deep fried and not a vegetable in sight!

My long-term goal is to obtain funding to develop, pilot and trial a certified children’s healthy menu program which provides practical support, resources and formal recognition to restaurants that offer a healthy Kids Menu (imagine a The Kids Research Institute Australia ‘tick of approval’ on Kids Menus that meet health criteria!). However, I first need to demonstrate that parents/caregivers, children and food business owners would welcome such an intervention and that healthy Kids Menus can be an economically viable option.

I will also work with one of our stakeholders, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) and the WA Local Government Association to develop a ‘Best Healthy Kids Menu Award’ as an additional incentive for industry to strive towards creating the best Healthy Kids Menu.

Given households eat out two-to-three nights per week on average, creating a movement towards more nutritious, less energy dense foods being made available for children in restaurants and cafes has the potential to improve children’s dietary intakes and reduce their risk of overweight/obesity at the population-level.