PhD Candidate
Tel +64 3 479 5461
Email margaretha.situmorang@postgrad.otago.ac.nz
Margaretha is a PhD student at the Centre for Sustainability and Department of Medicine. She holds a Bachelor in Architecture Engineering from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia and Masters in Architecture specialising in Sustainable Urban Design from Lund University, Sweden. Prior to her PhD studies, she has worked with the Infrastructure Research Institute of Indonesia, as well as doing urban consultancy work with several governmental institutions in Indonesia in urban road safety and sustainable human settlement projects.
Margaretha's research interests are built environment, food environment, health behaviour, and urban development. She is particularly attracted to environmental health as she believes that health behaviour is strongly shaped by the place in which we live. After living in five different cities in three countries, she experienced the importance of environmental influence, particularly within her home neighbourhood, on her physical activity and dietary behaviour changes. A family history of obesity and diabetes has also strongly influenced her interest in finding ways to learn and contribute to knowledge about obesity prevention, particularly through environmental health.
Research
Margaretha is working with the Built Environment and Active Transport to School (BEATS) Study particularly to investigate adolescent snacking behaviour during the journey to and from school. She will examine the relationship between these snacking behaviours and the mode of transport to school, as well as the food environment (i.e. food outlets and outdoor food advertising) around the school neighbourhood.