Research interests
Dr Spence is an expert in early childhood nutrition, focussing on children under five years of age. She conducts research in nutrition promotion for families with young children, with a particular interest in child dietary assessment and influences on young children’s diets, including family meals, parental feeding practices and role modelling, childcare mealtimes, and practical strategies for improvements.
Affiliations
Dietitians Australia (DA) member
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) - National Nutrition Network member
Teaching interests
Dr Spence is passionate about public health nutrition, and about upskilling students for work in this important area. She teaches Community and Public Health Nutrition and manages community placements within the Master of Dietetics, and also acts as course Co-Director. She also enjoys supervising Honours, PhD and placement students on early childhood nutrition projects.
Conferences
Alison Spence, Rachel Laws & Karen Campbell. Recipes as a “sticky hook” to engage parents in family meals promotion. International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity international conference, online, 2020.
Alison Spence, Amy Wakem, Ros Sambell, Amanda Devine, Margaret Rozman, Rebecca Byrne, Rebecca Golley, Kaylah Schroeter, Bianca Trajcevski, Rachael Kambouris, Devon Archard, Julia MIddeke, Jessica Cassado & Penny Love. Benchmarking food provision guidelines for Australian Early Childhood Education and Care services. World Public Health Nutrition Congress, online, 2020.
Alison Spence, Jess Haines, Gavin Abbott, Jennifer McCann, Eloise-kate Litterbach & Karen Campbell. Family meals with young children: parent identified motivators and barriers associated with eating together. Dietitians Association of Australia National conference, Sydney 2018.
Professional activities
Reviewer for Appetite, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, Public Health Nutrition, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour and Raising Children Network.
Awards
2012 ‘Highly commended Research in Practice’ award at International Congress of Dietetics
2010 'Research in Practice' award at Dietitians Association of Australia National Conference
2008-2011 Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship
Projects
Family Meals with Young Kids Study, 2014-2016
The Melbourne InFANT Program
Publications
E Litterbach, R Laws, M Zheng, K Campbell, A Spence
(2023), Vol. 180, pp. 106377-106377, Appetite, England, C1
A Burnett, C Russell, K Lacy, A Worsley, A Spence
(2023), Vol. 187, Appetite, C1
Iron Nutrition of Pre-Schoolers in High-Income Countries: A Review
L Atkins, A Spence, E Szymlek-Gay
(2023), Vol. 15, pp. 1-17, Nutrients, Basel, Switzerland, C1
Environmental sustainability and food provision in the early childhood and education setting
A Elford, A Spence, A Wakem, M Rozman, K Campbell, P Love
(2023), pp. 1-11, Public Health Nutrition, Cambridge, Eng., C1-1
A Burnett, K Lacy, C Russell, A Spence, A Worsley, K Lamb
(2022), Vol. 168, pp. 1-8, Appetite, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
A Elford, A Spence, A Wakem, K Campbell, P Love
(2022), Vol. 25, pp. 2661-2670, Public Health Nutrition, Cambridge, Eng., C1
E Litterbach, M Zheng, K Campbell, R Laws, A Spence
(2022), Vol. 14, Nutrients, Switzerland, C1
Jessica Kempler, Penelope Love, Kristy Bolton, Margaret Rozman, Alison Spence
(2022), Vol. 6, pp. 1-18, JMIR Formative Research, Toronto, Canada, C1
J Chui, K Lacy, M Zheng, R Leech, S McNaughton, A Spence
(2022), pp. 1-25, British Journal of Nutrition, England, C1
H Skouteris, R Green, A Chung, H Bergmeier, L Amir, S Baidwan, A Chater, C Chamberlain, R Emond, K Gibbons, M Gooey, K Hatzikiriakidis, E Haycraft, A Hills, D Higgins, O Hooper, S Hunter, P Kappelides, S Kleve, J Krakouer, J Lumeng, Y Manios, A Mansoor, M Marmot, L Mâsse, K Matvienko-Sikar, Z Mchiza, C Meyer, G Moschonis, E Munro, T O'Connor, A O'Neil, T Quarmby, R Sandford, J Schneiderman, S Sherriff, D Simkiss, A Spence, E Sturgiss, D Vicary, R Wickes, L Wolfenden, M Story, M Black
(2022), Vol. 30, pp. e6719-e6729, Health and Social Care in the Community, England, C1
Dietary patterns of Australian pre-schoolers and associations with haem and non-haem iron intakes
L Atkins, S McNaughton, A Spence, E Szymlek-Gay
(2021), Vol. 60, pp. 3059-3070, European Journal of Nutrition, Germany, C1
Association between longitudinal trajectories of lifestyle pattern and BMI in early childhood
M Zheng, S Lioret, K Hesketh, A Spence, R Taylor, K Campbell
(2021), Vol. 29, pp. 879-887, Obesity, Chichester, Eng., C1
A Burnett, K Lamb, A Spence, K Lacy, A Worsley
(2021), Vol. 24, pp. 6058-6066, Public Health Nutrition, England, C1
A Burnett, K Lamb, A Spence, K Lacy, A Worsley
(2021), Vol. 43, Eating Behaviors, United States, C1
Characterizing children's eating patterns: does the choice of eating occasion definition matter?
R Leech, A Spence, K Lacy, M Zheng, A Timperio, S McNaughton
(2021), Vol. 18, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, England, C1
L Atkins, S McNaughton, A Spence, E Szymlek-Gay
(2020), Vol. 59, pp. 175-184, European Journal of Nutrition, Germany, C1
A Spence, P Love, R Byrne, A Wakem, L Matwiejczyk, A Devine, R Golley, R Sambell
(2020), Vol. 17, pp. 1-21, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Switzerland, C1
Student satisfaction with feedback in a third year nutrition unit: A strategic approach
L Milne, J McCann, K Bolton, J Savage, A Spence
(2020), Vol. 17, pp. 1-18, Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, C1
Home environment predictors of vegetable and fruit intakes among Australian children aged 18 months
K Lacy, A Spence, S McNaughton, D Crawford, R Wyse, L Wolfenden, K Campbell
(2019), Vol. 139, pp. 95-104, Appetite, England, C1
A Spence, K Campbell, S Lioret, S McNaughton
(2018), Vol. 118, pp. 1634-1643.e1, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, United States, C1
Mothers' perceptions of Toddler beverages
M Rigo, J Willcox, A Spence, A Worsley
(2018), Vol. 10, Nutrients, Switzerland, C1
R Golley, L Bell, G Hendrie, A Rangan, A Spence, S McNaughton, L Carpenter, M Allman-Farinelli, A de Silva, T Gill, C Collins, H Truby, V Flood, T Burrows
(2017), Vol. 30, pp. 36-50, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, England, C1
E Litterbach, K Campbell, A Spence
(2017), Vol. 17, BMC Public Health, England, C1
Mothers' perceptions of Melbourne InFANT Program: Informing future practice
P Lunn, S Roberts, A Spence, K Hesketh, K Campbell
(2016), Vol. 31, pp. 614-622, Health Promotion International, England, C1
Mothers' perceptions of the influences on their child feeding practices - a qualitative study
A Spence, K Hesketh, D Crawford, K Campbell
(2016), Vol. 105, pp. 596-603, Appetite, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
P Morgan, R Jones, C Collins, K Hesketh, M Young, T Burrows, A Magarey, H Brown, T Hinkley, R Perry, L Brennan, A Spence, K Campbell
(2016), Vol. 3, Children, Switzerland, C1
A review of the relationship between socioeconomic position and the early-life predictors of obesity
A Cameron, A Spence, R Laws, K Hesketh, S Lioret, K Campbell
(2015), Vol. 4, pp. 350-362, Current obesity reports, New York, N. Y., C1
Alison Spence, Karen Campbell, David Crawford, Sarah McNaughton, Kylie Hesketh
(2014), Vol. 11, pp. 1-11, International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, London, England, C1
S Lioret, A Cameron, S McNaughton, D Crawford, A Spence, K Hesketh, K Campbell
(2013), pp. 1-12, Maternal and child nutrition, London, Eng, C1
Tracking of dietary intakes in early childhood : the Melbourne InFANT program
S Lioret, S McNaughton, A Spence, D Crawford, K Campbell
(2013), Vol. 67, pp. 275-281, European journal of clinical nutrition, London, England, C1
A parent-focused intervention to reduce infant obesity risk behaviors: a randomized trial
K Campbell, S Lioret, S McNaughton, D Crawford, J Salmon, K Ball, Z McCallum, B Gerner, A Spence, A Cameron, J Hnatiuk, O Ukoumunne, L Gold, G Abbott, K Hesketh
(2013), Vol. 131, pp. 652-660, Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, Ill., C1
A health promotion intervention can affect diet quality in early childhood
A Spence, S McNaughton, S Lioret, K Hesketh, D Crawford, K Campbell
(2013), Vol. 143, pp. 1672-1678, Journal of nutrition, Bethesda, Maryland, C1
Home food availability mediates associations between mothers' nutrition knowledge and child diet
K Campbell, G Abbott, A Spence, D Crawford, S McNaughton, K Ball
(2013), Vol. 71, pp. 1-6, Appetite, Amsterdam, Netherlands, C1
S Lioret, S McNaughton, D Crawford, A Spence, K Hesketh, K Campbell
(2012), Vol. 108, pp. 518-526, British journal of nutrition, Cambridge, England, C1
S Lioret, K Campbell, D Crawford, A Spence, K Hesketh, S McNaughton
(2012), Vol. 9, pp. 1-10, International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, London, England, C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
No Funded Projects at Deakin found
Supervisions
Eloise-Kate Litterbach
Thesis entitled: Family mealtime screen use in Australian families with young children
Doctor of Philosophy (Nutrition & Exercise) (Low Cost), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences
Linda Atkins
Thesis entitled: Iron nutrition of Australian pre-schoolers
Doctor of Philosophy (Nutrition & Exercise) (High Cost), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences
Alissa Jane Burnett
Thesis entitled: Parenting styles and their associations with the dietary intakes of children
Doctor of Philosophy (Nutrition & Exercise) (Low Cost), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences