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.
Publications
Situmorang, M. L. (2023). Adolescents' unhealthy snacking behaviours during their journey to and from school (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/16293 Awarded Doctoral Degree
Situmorang, M. L., Coppell, K., Keall, M., Smith, M., & Mandic, S. (2023). Adolescents’ unhealthy snacking behaviour during the school journey. In T. Milne, M. Anwar, L. Burga, H. Harcombe, M. Garelja, A. Middleton, D. C. Ribeiro, N. Fleming, K. Ogbuehi & A. Bahn (Eds.), Proceedings of the 267th Otago Medical School Research Society (OMSRS) Meeting: PhD Student Speaker Awards. Dunedin, New Zealand: OMSRS. Retrieved from https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/12839 Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Situmorang, M. L., Mandic, S., Smith, M., Keall, M., & Coppell, K. (2022, November). Adolescents' unhealthy snacking during the school journey: Gender differences. Verbal presentation at the 4th Transport Research Network (TRN) Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Situmorang, M. L., Coppell, K. J., Smith, M., Keall, M., & Mandic, S. (2022). Adolescents' school travel and unhealthy snacking: Associations with school transport modes, neighbourhood deprivation, and body weight. Sustainability, 14, 7038. doi: 10.3390/su14127038 Journal - Research Article
Mandic, S., Kentala, K., Situmorang, M. L., Rahman, M. L., King, K., García Bengoechea, E., Fox, A.-M., … Coppell, K. J. (2021). School bag-related factors and their implications for walking and cycling to school among New Zealand adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 18(24), 13125. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413125 Journal - Research Article