March 16, 2015

Lauren Toppin, a senior in the nutrition department at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been selected for a 2015-2016 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Japan.

Lauren Toppin

Lauren Toppin

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program of the United States. While abroad, Toppin will represent the country as a cultural ambassador and help to foster mutual understanding between Americans and the Japanese.

“We are extremely proud of our Bachelor of Science in Public Health students,” said Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD, professor and chair of the nutrition department. “Lauren is a wonderful example of the kind of creative, challenging and important work that our students do all around the world.”

Toppin, who attended high school in Waxhaw, N.C., plans to study potential causes of declining obesity rates in young Japanese females.

“As a child of Caribbean parents, I have seen many of my family members develop and suffer from chronic diseases as a result of consuming a typical Caribbean diet, which is high in carbohydrates and fat,” Toppin said. “These experiences prompted me to major in nutrition. Additionally, I began taking Japanese courses as a sophomore and had the opportunity to study in Japan as a Phillips Ambassador, which led to my desire to incorporate Japan into my future public health career. My Fulbright research represents the perfect combination of these two interests.”

Toppin’s project will center on evidence that young women in Japan have experienced a decline in Body Mass Index (BMI) since 1976.

“This is despite the fact that the BMI of every other demographic has been on the rise, which is what one would expect in an industrialized country,” she explained. “Since I have never seen or heard of a declining BMI trend in a developed country, I am very eager to determine what eating behaviors or sociocultural factors could illuminate this trend. My hope is that completing this research and determining behaviors that may protect against obesity will contribute to the development of more effective obesity treatments in the U.S.”

After graduation, Toppin will spend the summer intensively studying Japanese. In September, she will travel to Japan to begin work.

When asked what she was most looking forward to from this experience, Toppin replied, “My first instinct was to say ‘the food’! In all seriousness, though, I am most looking forward to becoming fully conversational in Japanese. More broadly, I hope this project will encourage a more open public health dialogue between the U.S. and Japan. I believe there is much we can learn from each other.”

Each year, students receive Fulbright grant notifications on a rolling basis starting in mid-March. The most current and complete list of all UNC winners is available from the Center for Global Initiatives, which manages the program at UNC. An announcement of all UNC awards will be made in August 2015.


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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.

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