Professor Research of

Dr. Constance Gewa

Through the George Mason University website, as well as some of the professor's

articles, I have a proper understanding of one of my professors, Dr. Constance Gewa

(George Mason University, 2018). My research is divided into two parts according to

the requirements. In the first part, I will introduce the relevant information of the Dr.

Constance Gewa. In the second part, I will discuss what these findings suggest about

being a scholar in my chosen discipline.

Part I. Information About the Professor

1) Who is the professor and what are his or her academic qualifications?

My professor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food

Studies from the College of Health and Human Services at George Mason University

(George Mason University, 2018). Her name is Dr. Constance Gewa.

Dr. Gewa got her Bachelor’s degree of Science in Agriculture and Home-

Economics from Egerton University; She got her Master’s degree of Science in

Applied Human Nutrition from the University of Nairobi; She got her Master’s degree

of Public Health in Public Health from University of California Los Angeles; She got

her Doctorate degree in Public Health from the University of California Los Angeles.

2) In what journals has this professor published academic research?

From the website of the College of Health and Human services of George Mason

University, I found that Dr. Gewa has published her article on these journals (George
Mason University, 2018): Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition;

International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 51, 2376-2385; BMC Public

Health, 16, 243; Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 34 (1),6; Food and

Nutrition Bulletin, 35 (4 suppl), S180-S187; Public Health Nutrition, 17(12), 2667-

2673; African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 11(7), 5629-

5645; British Journal of Nutrition, 101, 1378-1387; Public Health Nutrition,

12(8), 1197-1204.

3) What are these academic articles about?

Because Dr. Gewa focuses on the nutrition problem of mothers and children in

low-income areas, especially the problem in Africa (George Mason University, 2018).

In addition, she also has worked as a nutrition team leader and was a research project

coordinator with a child nutrition research project in Kenya (George Mason

University, 2018). As a result, most of her articles are based on the data and

information from Kenya.

The first two articles of Dr. Gewa were all focus on the nutrition situation of

mother and children in Kenya, and in my opinion, those articles all mainly presented

and analyzed some problem of nutrition in this time in Kenya (Gewa C.A, Murphy

S.P, & Neumann C.G, 2009; Gewa C.A, Weiss R.E, Bwibo N.O, Whaley S, Sigman

M, Murphy S.P, Neumann C.G, 2009). However, these two articles were published a

little earlier. Today, nine years later, I prefer to analyze the articles written by Dr.

Gewa in recent years.

Dr. Gewa wrote an article about good food sources in Kenya in 2014 (Gewa C.A,
Frankenfeld C.L, Slavin M, & Omondi M, 2014). Dr. Gewa (2014) thought that

although animal-sourced food can provide more nutrients, it can be very difficult to

obtain in less developed areas; As a result, Dr. Gewa (2014) studied fish-enhanced

and soybean-enhance food and assessed the acceptability to local pregnant women in

Kenya. In my opinion, this article is meaningful to many institutions, because food

resources are insufficient not only in Kenya, but also in many parts of the world, this

article can be used as a reference by food institutions or governments of any country

or region with insufficient food resources to protect their people from malnutrition.

Dr. Gewa wrote two articles about Infant feeding in 2015 and 2016 (Gewa C.A &

Leslie T, 2015; Gewa C.A, & Chepkemboi J, 2016). Dr. Gewa (2015) analyzed the

diversity of nutrition of infant and young child diet in East Africa, and Dr. Gewa

(2016) analyzed the factors of influencing breastfeeding. In my opinion, there is a

certain correlation between the two articles, because the mother and infant feeding are

inseparable, the factors that affect mother's breastfeeding will inevitably affect the

health and diet of infants and young children.

Dr. Gewa wrote an article about sexism and food safety in 2017 (Durairaj A,

Gewa C.A, Komwa M, & Pawloski L, 2017). This article was very interesting. Dr.

Gewa (2017) found that the woman's household burden was too heavy through her

investigation of the food and women in Wakiso district of Uganda; At the same time,

she also made suggestions on food storage and family food safety.

In conclusion, there are certain changes in Dr. Gewa's articles content, which may

indicate that her research direction has been adjusted to a certain extent, but there is
no significant change in the whole.

4) What are his or her research interests?

Following are all Dr. Gewa's research interests (George Mason University, 2018):

Dietary Assessment Rural Kenya; Diet Quality Rural Kenya; Dietary Diversity Rural

Kenya; Maternal Nutrition Rural Kenya; Exclusive Breast-Feeding Rural Kenya And

Young Child Feeding Practices Kenya.

Although the university's official website shows the above research interests of the

professor (George Mason University, 2018). However, from the content of the articles

published by the Dr. Gewa (Gewa C.A & Leslie T, 2015; Gewa C.A, & Chepkemboi

J, 2016; Durairaj A, Gewa C.A, Komwa M, & Pawloski L, 2017), I think the research

interests of Dr. Gewa are not limited to the nutrition research in Kenya. In fact, it

involves several countries in East Africa.

 Part II. These Findings Suggest About

Being a Scholar in My Chosen Discipline.

In fact, through the research on Dr. Gewa, I have a deeper understanding of my

chosen discipline.

My major is Nutrition. In some ways, Nutrition is a new subject, and there are

many exigencies of Nutrition all over the world. At present, many people, including

myself, are mainly concerned with food safety, food nutrition, and reasonable diet

collocation. However, vast research is based on relatively developed regions and just

ignore the low-income areas.

As we all know, in many parts of the world, there are huge problems with basic

food sources. As Dr. Gewa (2014) wrote, animal-sourced food is not enough in

Kenya. We also should not ignore that there are many areas still at war now. In my

opinion, the value of some nutrition knowledge based in developed regions is minimal

in such a situation. For example, in famine, so-called nutritional diets are meaningless

because if people do not have enough food, they will not pay attention to the balance

of fat and protein. Therefore, nutrition study in low-income areas is essential and

important. Dr. Gewa's research is valuable to the whole world.

In conclusion, firstly, these findings have given me a new perspective on nutrition;

Secondly, these findings made me realize the difference and importance of Nutrition

in low-income areas.
References

George Mason University. (2018). George Mason University College of Health and

Human Services. Source: George Mason University College of Health and

Human Services: https://chhs.gmu.edu/profile/view/6918

Gewa C.A., Murphy S.P. & Neumann C.G. (2009). A comparison of weighed and

recalled intakes for school children and mothers in rural Kenya. Public Health

Nutrition, 12(8), 1197-1204.

Gewa C.A., Weiss R.E., Bwibo N.O., Whaley S., Sigman M., Murphy S.P., … Neumann

C.G. (2009). Dietary micronutrients are associated with higher cognitive

function gains among primary school children in rural Kenya. British Journal

of Nutrition, 101, 1378-1387.

Gewa C.A., Murphy S.P., Weiss R.E. & Neumann C.G. (2014): Determining minimum

food intake amounts for diet diversity scores to maximize associations with

nutrient adequacy: an analysis of schoolchildren's diets in rural Kenya. Public

Health Nutrition, 17(12), 2667-2673.

Gewa C.A. & Leslie T. (2015). Distribution and determinants of young child feeding

practices in the East African region: demographic health survey data analysis

from 2008-2011. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 34 (1),6.

Gewa C.A. & Chepkemboi J. (2016). Maternal knowledge, outcome expectancies and

normative beliefs as determinants of cessation of exclusive breastfeeding: a

cross-sectional study in rural Kenya. BMC Public Health, 16, 243.

Amialya E. Durairaj, Constance A. Gewa, Maction K. Komwa & Lisa Pawloski

(2017) “Our turn to eat:” Shifting gender norms and food security in the

Wakiso district of Uganda, Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition