Overview
Meg H. Zeller, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Zeller's program of research focuses on the identification of psychosocial correlates of pediatric obesity that are potential barriers to weight management. A recipient of a K23 award (NIDDK 2001-2006), Dr. Zeller has recently completed data collection documenting the social, emotional, and family functioning of treatment-seeking obese youth (ages 8-16) as compared to a demographically matched nonobese controls. In addition, these data have fostered ongoing psychosocial studies led by two current T32 Fellows, Dr. Avani Modi and Dr. Carrie Piazza-Waggoner which involve:
- more focused study of maternal health, emotional well-being and social support (FamilyView), and
- observational studies of mealtime patterns and family functioning in pediatric obesity (FamilyView: Life).
Lab members Drs. Zeller, Modi, and Dr. Helmut Roehrig, have additional expertise in instrument development in the area of obesity-specific health related quality of life (HRQOL). For example, they contributed to the development and validation of a weight-related quality of life measure for adolescents (KidsView), the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life - Kids (IWQOL-Kids). Dr. Zeller's ongoing work in this area, in collaboration with Dr. Modi, is focusing on the development of obesity-specific HRQOL measures for younger children (ages 5-12) and a parent-proxy measure for youth ages 5-18 (FamilyView). These measures will likely prove important to both clinicians and obesity researchers in their assessment of patient HRQOL status and weight loss treatment outcomes.
Most recently, Dr. Zeller has expanded her program of psychosocial research to include adolescents with severe obesity (BMI > 40), and those seeking bariatric surgery in particular. In collaboration with CCHMC pediatric surgeon, Dr. Thomas Inge, she has successfully obtained initial internal pilot funding (GCRC - CReFF Award 2004-2005) and subsequently, external funding (NIDDK R03 2005-2007) to identify psychosocial benefits of bariatric surgery in the treatment of severely obese adolescents and the psychosocial predictors of successful surgical outcomes (Outlook Study).
