Andrea Buchholz

As a registered dietitian and Director of the University of Guelph Body Composition Lab, I am interested in the associations between lifestyle habits (particularly diet), body composition and cardiometabolic risk in families with young children. I am a co-investigator of the Guelph Family Health Study.

Recruiting student researchers: Accepting one MSc and one fourth year honours thesis student (AHN) for 2026-2027.

When not professing, I am a comedic improvisor.

Fall 2025:

• NUTR*4010: Nutritional Assessment
• FRAN*6750: Fundamentals of Dietetic Practice-Based Research

Winter 2026: NUTR*4900: Selected Topics in Human Nutrition (with a focus on clinical nutrition)

Fall 2026: On research leave

• Post-doctoral fellow - University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004
• Post-doctoral fellow - Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2003
• PhD (Nutritional Sciences) - University of Toronto, 2002
• Dietetic internship: Hamilton Health Sciences, 1995
• MSc (Applied Human Nutrition) - University of Guelph, 1994
• B.A.A. (Foods and Nutrition), Toronto Metropolitan University, 1992

(*denotes student collaboration):

*Lo HWH, Prashad M, Duncan AM, Ann Vallis L, Haines J, Ma DWL, Buchholz AC; Guelph Family Health Study. Associations between saturated fat from single dairy foods and body composition in young Canadian children. Can J Diet Pract Res, 2025 Apr 16:1-7. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2025-009

*Leung H, *Acosta PFC, *Landon OA, *Ribau ZJ, Ann Vallis L, Darlington G, Duncan AM, Haines J, Ma DWL, Buchholz AC; Guelph Family Health Study. Plant-based dietary index scores are not associated with body composition in young children. Can J Diet Pract Res, 2025 Apr 15:1-7. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2025-006.

*Ribey SCS, *Coyle-Asbil HJ, *Coyle-Asbil B, *Osojnicki K, Vallis LA, Darlington G, Duncan AM, Ma DWL, Buchholz AC, and the Guelph Family Health Study. Associations between objectively measured nighttime sleep duration, sleep timing, and sleep quality and body composition in toddlers in the Guelph Family Health Study. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab, 2025 Jan 1;50:1-7. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2024-0244

*Mahajan A, Duncan AM, Darlington G, Haines J, Ma DWL, Buchholz AC; Guelph Family Health Study. Dietary sugar and anthropometrics among young children in the Guelph Family Health Study: Longitudinal associations. Can J Diet Pract Res, 2024 Sep 1;85(3):132-139. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2024-001.

I collaborate with Dr. David Ma and Dr. Jess Haines and other researchers at the University of Guelph on the Guelph Family Health Study and the Family Stress Study.

Yasmeen Karaman (MSc-AHN): Associations between ultraprocessed foods and cardiometabolic risk in children

Kyra Ash (MSc-AHN): Eating behaviours and body composition in adults

Noa Mechaly (AHN honours thesis): Dairy-derived saturated fat and cardiometabolic risk in children

I am interested in investigating the following in families with young children. Do any of these topics catch your eye? If so, please email me!

• Plant-based diet index scores and body composition in parents in the Guelph Family Health Study
• Physical activity and fat mass index (FMI) in young children
• Diet quality and fat-free mass index (FFMI) in young children
• Use of bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure body composition in infants (collaboration with Dr. Kathryn Walton in Applied Human Nutrition)
• Child eating behaviours and body composition outcomes