Dr. Wang's ongoing research focuses on two themes:

1. Obesity and chronic disease: Much of his obesity related research focuses on children and adolescents, both in the United States and other countries. One of his research projects is a NIH-funded school-based childhood obesity intervention study in Chicago, the HEALTH-KIDS project (“Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyles from school To Home for KIDS”). The goal is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of a comprehensive intervention program targeting at low-SES African American students in Chicago Public Schools. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data collected between 1971 and 2004 and national survey data collected in several other countries, his team has been studying the relationship between SES and obesity in children and adults and the changes in the relationship over time. Funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), he and collaborators from University of Illinois at Chicago are carrying out a 4-year study to examine the influence of economic and environmental factors on American’s lifestyles and risk of obesity. His team has also been studying the long-term influence of childhood experience (including diet, growth and development) on later chronic disease risks, for example, the complex relationship between childhood obesity, sexual maturation and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

2. International health: His team has been studying the global secular trends in childhood obesity and the related social economic risk factors, the assessment and classification of childhood obesity, children's dietary intake patterns and child growth. In some of these projects, he is collaborating with researchers in North America, Asia and Europe and with some international health organizations such as the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Some of his ongoing research projects involve large cohorts in the United States and China.

His other main research interests include health disparities, influence of calcium and dairy consumption on health outcomes, and the application of longitudinal data analysis methods in nutrition epidemiologic research.

Nutritional epidemiology; childhood obesity (assessment, global trends, causes, health consequences, prevention); growth; sexual maturation; chronic disease; health disparities; lifestyles; international health; analysis of national survey and longitudinal data

2005 The Dannon Institute’s Nutrition Leadership Institute

2001 Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health,

2000 Chunhui Award, Chinese Ministry of Education

Peer-reviewed papers selected from over 70 publications

Wang Y. Cross-national comparison of childhood obesity: the epidemic and the relationships between obesity and socioeconomic status. International Journal of Epidemiology. 30:1129-36, 2001.

Wang Y, Adair L. How does maturity adjustment influence the estimates of obesity prevalence in adolescents from different countries using an international reference? International Journal of Obesity. 25: 550-8, 2001.

Wang Y. Is obesity associated with early sexual maturation? A comparison of the association in American boys verse girls. Pediatrics 110:903-910, 2002.

Wang Y, Monteiro C, Popkin BM. Trends of obesity and underweight in older children and adolescents in the United States, Brazil, China and Russia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 75:971-7, 2002.

Wang Y, Wang JQ. A comparison of different international references for the assessment of child and adolescent overweight and obesity in different populations. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56:973-982, 2002.

Wang Y, Bentley M, Zhai F, Popkin BM. Tracking of dietary intake patterns of Chinese from childhood into adolescence over a six-year follow-up period. Journal of Nutrition 132: 430-438, 2002

Wang Y, Wang X. How do statistical properties influence findings of tracking (maintenance) in epidemiologic studies? European Journal of Epidemiology 18:1037-45, 2003.

Wang Y. Epidemiology of Childhood Obesity--Methodological Aspects and Guidelines: What’s New? International Journal of Obesity 28(3):S21-8, 2004.

Zhang Q, Wang Y. Socioeconomic inequality in obesity in the United States: Do gender, age and ethnicity matter? Social Science and Medicine 58;1171-1180, 2004.

Wang Y, Wang QJ. The Prevalence of Prehypertension and Hypertension among U.S. Adults According to the New Joint National Committee Guidelines: New Challenges of the Old Problem. Archives of Internal Medicine 164:2126-2134, 2004.

Koh-Banerjee P, Wang Y, Hu FB, Spiegelman D, Willett WC, Rimm EB. Changes in Body Weight and Body Fat Distribution as Risk Factors for Clinical Diabetes in U.S. Men. American Journal of Epidemiology 159:1150-9, 2004.

Zhang Q, Wang Y. Has the Relationship between Obesity and Socioeconomic Status (SES) among U.S. Adults Changed over Time? Secular Trends in the Relationship between 1971 and 2000, Obesity Research. 12(10):1622-1632, 2004.

Wang Y, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Hu FB. A comparison of abdominal adiposity and overall obesity in predicting risk of type 2 diabetes among U.S. men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81(3):555-63, 2005.

Wang Y, Tussing L, Odoms-Young A, Braunschweig C, Flay B, Hedeker D, Hellison D. Obesity Prevention among Low-Socioeconomic Status African American Adolescents: The HEALTH-KIDS Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006;60:92-103.

Wang Y, Zhang Q. Are Low-Socioeconomic Status American Children and Adolescents at Increased Risk of Obesity? Trends in the Association between Overweight and Family Income between 1971 and 2002. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006;84:707-16.

Wang Y, Moreno LA, Caballero B, Cole TJ. Limitations of the Current World Health Organization Growth References for Children and Adolescents. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 2006; 27:s175-88.

Wang Y, Lobstein T. Worldwide Trends in Childhood Obesity. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity 2006;1:11-25.

Wang Y, Chen X, Klag MJ, Caballero B. Epidemic of Childhood Obesity: Implications for Kidney Disease. Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease 2006;13(4):336-51.

Wang Y, Mi J, Shan X, Wang QJ, Ge K. Is China Facing An Obesity Epidemic and the Consequences? The Trends in Obesity and Chronic Disease in China. International Journal of Obesity 2007;31(1):177-88.

Casagrande SS, Wang Y, Anderson C, Gary TL. Have Americans increased their fruit and vegetable intake? The trends between 1988 and 2002. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2007;32(4):257-63.

Zhang Q, Wang Y. Using Concentration Index to Study Changes in Socioeconomic Inequality of Overweight among U.S. Adolescents between 1971 and 2002. International Journal of Epidemiology 2007 2007;36(4):916-25.

Wang Y, Liang H, Tussing L, C Braunschweig, B Caballero, Flay B. Obesity and Related Risk Factors among Low-Socioeconomic Status Minority Students in Chicago. Public Health Nutrition 2007; 10:927-38

Wang Y, Beydoun M. The Obesity Epidemic In the United States-- Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, Racial/Ethnic, and Geographic Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis. Epidemiology Review 2007;29:6-28.

Wang Y, Chen X, Song Y, Caballero B, Cheskin LJ. Association between Obesity and Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Kidney International 2007, Oct 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Beydoun M, Wang Y. Effect of socio-economic status on fruit and vegetable consumption and diet quality among US adults: Is it modified by nutrition knowledge and beliefs? Preventive Medicine 2007 Jul 4; [Epub ahead of print]

Li J, Wang Y. Tracking of dietary intake and its association with dynamics of body mass index in urban low-income African American adolescents. Journal of Nutrition (in press).

Beydoun M, Powell L, Wang Y. Impacts of fast food, fruits and vegetables’ prices on dietary intakes among US adults and are they modified by family income? Social Science and Medicine (in press).

Chen X, Beydoun M, Wang Y. Is sleep duration associated with childhood obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity 2008; 16:265-74

Chen X, Wang Y, Appel L, Mi Ji. The impacts of different blood pressure measurement protocols on blood pressure tracking from childhood to adulthood: A meta-regression analysis. Hypertension 2008 Jan 22 [Epub ahead of print]