5/13-Mindful Living

Dr. Cheung's research and work focus on the translation of scientific knowledge of nutrition and physical activity to promote healthy eating and active living for chronic disease prevention.

She is a Co-Investigator at the Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity. She was the Principal Investigator of the Qualitative Study on CDC's School Health Index, which assessed its receptivity and impact with schools, funded by the CDC and American Schools of Public Health. She was the co-Principal Investigator of Eat Well & Keep Moving, a study funded by the Walton Family Foundation to evaluate the impact of an interdisciplinary school-based program to promote nutrition and physical activity in upper elementary students. She was the co-Principal Investigator of Treatwell 5 A Day, a study funded by the National Cancer Institute to promote fruits and vegetable consumption in worksites. She was also Director of Nutrition and Fitness at the Center for Health Communication.

To further advance scientific knowledge translation to the public, Dr. Cheung has worked closely with the mass media as a resource to help improve the quality of media content. She is currently the Editorial Director of the Department's nutrition website, The Nutrition Source and the Co-Editorial Director of a new website focused on obesity. She also co-edited Child Health, Nutrition and Physical Activity (1995) with the late former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Julius Richmond, and she coauthoredEat Well & Keep Moving (2001, 2007), a nationally and internationally disseminated school-based nutrition and physical activity program for upper elementary school children. To engage a wider lay audience, she coauthored Be Healthy! It's A Girl Thing: Food, Fitness and Feeling Great! (2003), a book written for adolescent girls to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle. Her book, Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, coauthored with Zen Buddhist master, Thich Nhat Hanh (Harper Collins, 2010), teaches readers how to easily adopt the practice of mindfulness and integrate it into eating, exercise, and all facets of daily life.