WASHINGTON, DC, NOV. 8, 2004 – Barbara Abrams, DrPH, RD, Professor of Epidemiology, Public Health Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health and Associate Dean of Student Affairs at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, today received the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievement in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.
The award was presented to Dr. Abrams by March of Dimes President Dr. Jennifer L. Howse at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), which is being held here. Her lecture today was titled, “Should We Stop Weighing Pregnant Women?'' The award was presented at a lecture/reception in Dr. Abrams' honor and was jointly sponsored by the March of Dimes and APHA's sections on Maternal/Child Health and Food and Nutrition.
Dr. Abrams has more than 18 years of experience providing nutrition counseling and education directly to expectant mothers in prenatal clinical care settings. She has since turned her attention to conducting research studies to better understand how maternal weight and weight gain before, during and after pregnancy contribute to health outcomes in newborn infants and their mothers.
Dr. Abrams has published more than 40 research papers examining maternal weight, weight gain, nutrition, and social factors on healthy pregnancy outcome. Her work emphasizes improving health behaviors in women and reducing health disparities. She is most proud of her work educating future leaders in the field of maternal nutrition and public health.
Agnes Higgins was the longtime director of Canada's Montreal Diet Dispensary, a precursor of American government nutrition programs for pregnant women. A pioneer in devising methods of nutritional assessment and counseling, she greatly advanced the understanding of diet as a crucial factor in healthy pregnancy and prevention of low birthweight. The award was created by the March of Dimes in her honor in 1980.
