Faculty Profile

Julie Lumeng

Julie C Lumeng, MD

  • Professor of Pediatrics
  • Thomas P. Borders Family Research Professor of Child Behavior and Development

Dr. Lumeng is interested in the development of children's eating behavior and its influence on healthy growth. She is interested in factors influencing the development of children's eating behavior, including biology, stress, and parenting. Her research specifically focuses on early childhood and particularly infancy. Her work has included randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions in community settings, novel methods for interrogating behavior, and qualitative approaches. Her long-term goal is to contribute to the understanding of children's eating behavior in a manner that integrates biology and behavior.

  • MD, University of Michigan Medical School, 1997
  • BA, University of Michigan, 1993

Research Interests:
Development of eating behavior in early childhood and infancy, parenting, child development, childhood obesity

Research Projects:
Lumeng's research focuses on characterization of the development of eating behavior (e.g., satiety responsiveness, food responsiveness) among healthy, full-term infants through parent report and observed behavior. A key question involves examining the continuity of these behaviors into later childhood.

Lumeng collaborates with faculty with expertise in nutrition, developmental psychology, biostatistics, nursing, and human development

Her work also involves integrating lines of research in food parenting (e.g., pressure to eat, restriction, responsive feeding) and the biology of eating behavior and parent-child interaction (e.g., biobehavioral markers of stress).

Areas of Expertise: Child Health,  Nutrition