Dr. Jennifer (Jenny) Barton is an Assistant Professor in the TSET Health Promotion Research Center and the Department of Family and Community Medicine within the School of Community Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She earned her PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin in 2021 and then completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Family Resiliency Center.
Dr. Barton's research is focused on improving nutrition and growth and reducing health disparities among families with young children who experience food insecurity and live in rural communities. She uses longitudinal and intervention methodologies to understand, 1) what and how do parents feed their children, 2) how and why do these behaviors change over time or day-to-day, 3) what are the consequences for child health outcomes, and 4) what intervention strategies and settings have the greatest impact on child health outcomes?
She collaborates on several NIH-funded community-based behavioral interventions designed to improve the health and well-being of young children and their families among high-risk, rural populations. In addition, she was previously awarded an Early-Stage Investigator KL2 Award from the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences) to examine variability in food insecurity among mothers with preschool-aged children. Through this work, she seeks to inform intervention and policy aimed at supporting children and families who experience economic hardship and food insecurity in rural areas.
Education:
Degree-Granting Institutions
PhD, Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2021
MA, Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 2018
MS, Psychology, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2016
BS, Psychology, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2012
Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Family Resiliency Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 2021-2023
Funding:
5/2024 – 4/2029
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (UH3HL162971)
Early Intervention to Promote Cardiovascular Health of Mothers and Children in Northern Appalachia
Role: Early-Stage Investigator/Co-Investigator (MPIs: Paul, I.M., Legro, R.S.)
7/2019 – 12/2026
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK120754)
ONE PATH: Optimizing Nutrition Education for Parents And Teachers for Healthy Growth
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Savage, J.S.)
Completed Research Support
7/2024 – 6/2026
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Early-Stage Investigator Training Program (KL2TR002015)
Living with Food Insecurity: Understanding Daily Maternal Experiences and Implications for Child Health and Development
Role: Principal Investigator (Mentors: Bruening, M., Savage, J.S., Almeida, D.M.)
5/2022 – 4/2024
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (UG3HL162971)
Early Intervention to Promote Cardiovascular Health of Mothers and Children in Northern Appalachia (Pilot)
Role: Early-Stage Investigator/Co-Investigator (MPIs: Paul, I.M., Legro, R.S.)
Select Publications:
Barton, J.M., Eagleton, S.G., Reyes, L.I., Cole, R.M., & Savage, J.S. (2026). Predicting structure- and control-based feeding parental practices among families with low-income: An ecological approach. Appetite, 108518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2026.108518
McMath, A.L., Keye, S.A., Barton, J.M., Liu, R. Iwinski, S.J., Bost, K.F., Donovan, S.M., & Khan, N.A. (2025). Diet patterns featuring Western-style and low-preparation foods differentially relate to cognitive function in early childhood from the STRONG Kids2 Birth Cohort Study. Current Developments in Nutrition, 107488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2025.107488
Paul, I.M., Barton, J.M., Anzman-Frasca, S., Hohman, E.E., Buxton, O.M., Hess, L.B., & Savage, J.S. (2025). Long-term effects of a responsive parenting intervention on child weight outcomes through age 9: The INSIGHT randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.6897
Popoolapade, N., Koester, B.D., & Barton, J.M. (2024). Associations between fruit and vegetable availability, parental feeding practices, and picky eating during toddlerhood. Undergraduate Research Journal, 4(2), 70-92.
Barton, J.M., Lundquist, A., Fisher, M.C., Fiese, B.H., & McBride, B.A. (2024). Identifying elevated child weight from 3 to 24 months: Early transitions into nonparental care and to solid foods. Pediatric Obesity, e13115. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.13115
McMath, A.L., Barton, J.M., Cai, T., Khan, N.A., Fiese, B.H., & Donovan, S.M. (2024). Identification and evaluation of diet patterns in US preschoolers from the STRONG Kids2 Program. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2023.12.012
Barton, J.M., McMath, A.L., Montgomery, S.P., Donovan, S.M., & Fiese, B.H. (2024). Longitudinal changes in home food availability and associations with food and nutrient intake among children from 24 to 48 months. Public Health Nutrition, 27, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980024000375
Fiese, B.H., Barton, J.M., & Sahin, E. (2023). Longitudinal changes in home food availability across the first three years of life and associations with family context predictors. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10, 1215894. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1215894
Koepp, A.E., Barton, J.M., Berendzen, H.M., Rough, H.E., & Gershoff, E.T. (2023). Parents’ coping and mental health during COVID-19. Family Relations, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12929
Tabb, K.M., Simonovich, S.D., Wozniak, J., Barton, J.M., Hsieh, W-J.W., Klement, C., Ostrowski, M.E., Lakhani, N., Meline, B., & Huang, H. (2023). WIC views and staff perceptions on the relationship between food insecurity and perinatal depression. Healthcare, 11, 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11010068
Barton, J.M. (2022). Food and beverage offerings by parents of preschoolers: A daily survey study during COVID-19. Appetite, 174, 106047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106047
Bichteler, A., Barton, J.M., Lumeng, J.C., & Gershoff, E.T. (2022). Patterns of childhood body mass index percentile gains as predictors of adolescent body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Academic Pediatrics, 22(5), 769-776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2021.11.015
Nicholson, J.S., Barton, J.M., & Simons, A. L. (2018). Ability to categorize food predicts hypothetical food choices in Head Start preschoolers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 50, 238-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2017.09.026