Our Published Scientific Research Studies

(selected references of a total of 148 publications)

Over three decades, Dr. Sothern and her research team published scientific research using direct measurements of weight status, body composition, metabolic health and physical activity, and self-reported measures of food intake and behaviors in a multitude of peer-reviewed scientific journals and three scientific textbooks. Results from these clinical studies were used to develop specific recommendations for preventing and treating obesity in youth, which are stratified by age, current medical condition and weight status. These recommendations eventually were utilized to develop a tailored lifestyle diet and physical activity/exercise program, which was translated for home use in the book, Trim Kids: The Proven 12-Week Plan that has Helped Thousands of Children Achieve a Healthier Weight (2001, Harper Collins, NY, NY).Trim Kids is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a Research Tested Intervention Program and is acknowledged by the U. S. Surgeon General for its community dissemination in South Louisiana. In addition, 

Methodologies from Dr. Sothern’s publications were utilized in her international study in the Caribbean Island Country of Grenada, which documented that low obesity rates in youth were associated with a traditional, nutrient-rich versus westernized diet.

Selected references are below:

1.	Scribner, R, Radix, R, Gilliland, Claudia Leonardi, C, Ferguson, T, Noel, T, Andall, R, Andall, N, Radix, C, Frank, R, Benjamin, J, James, J, Benjamin, Ro, Waechter, R, Sothern, M. Absence of Adolescent Obesity in Grenada: Is it a Generational Effect, Frontiers in Public Health, 2018 Front Public Health. 2018 Aug 3;6:204. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00204.

2.	Sothern, M., Gordon, S., & von Almen, K. (Eds) Handbook of Pediatric Obesity: Clinical Management, 2006, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL.

3.	Sothern, M. Schumacher, H. & Von Almen, TK.  Trim Kids: The Proven Plan that has Helped Thousands of Children Achieve a Healthier Weight, 2001, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY.

4.	Sothern, M., Udall, J. Suskind, R., Vargas, A., Blecker, U. Weight loss and growth velocity in obese children after very low calorie diet, exercise, behavior modification. Acta Paediatrica, 2000; 89(9):1036-43.

5.	Skizim M, Sothern M, Blaja O, Tseng T, Griffiths L, Joseph J, Nuss H. Social marketing for a farmer’s market in an underserved community: A needs assessment. J Pub Health Res. 2018 Jan 4;6(3):815. doi: 10.4081/jphr.2017.815. 

6.	Lin WT, Kao YH, Sothern MS, Seal DW, Lee CH, Lin HY, Chen T, Tseng TS. The association between sugar-sweetened beverages intake, body mass index, and inflammation in US adults. Int J Public Health. 2020 Jan;65(1):45-53. doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01330-5. Epub 2020 Jan 25. PMID: 31982934

Dr. Sothern’s research team was the first to report that asthma status moderates the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and obesity in minority females enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. They also observed that the relationships between pro-inflammatory biomarkers (Interleukin [IL]-8, Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha [TNF-α]) and obesity (body fat [DXA[), neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (CDI), and related metabolic biomarkers commonly observed in adults are reversed in healthy, Black and White obese and non-obese children prior to puberty using accurate, state-of-the-art methodologies (e.g. VAT and SAT by MRI and ectopic fat by 1H-MRS, body fat by DXA, etc.). Previously there were no studies that have simultaneously examined pro-and-anti-inflammatory markers, CDI, and, VAT, SAT and ectopic fat by MRI/ 1H-MRS in a sample of otherwise healthy, exclusively prepubertal (< 2 Tanner) obese and non-obese Black and White children, 7-9 years of age. Statistically significant inverse correlations were observed between the parameters studied, which were not anticipated. 

Dr. Sothern’s team identified genetic, environmental and behavioral factors associated with obesity and insulin resistance including mother’s weight and breastfeeding, and discovered evidence of a stress pathway linking neighborhood status to inflammation in youth.

We also established that weight status and socioeconomic level are linked to global self-esteem competence in female black adolescents. Dr. Sothern’s clinical studies identified racial differences in intracerebral hemorrhage outcomes in adult male patients with obesity. A narrative review highlights multilevel barriers to contraceptive uptake in women residing in Louisiana. Selected references are below:

1.	Cahill, L. Fisher, K., Robinson, W., Beiter, K., Zabaleta, J., Tseng, T., Kepper, M., Skizim, M., Griffiths, L., Uddo, R., Pelligrino, N., Maronge, J., Happel, K., Scribner, R., Sothern, M. Asthma Status Moderates the Relationship between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Obesity in African American Adolescent Females. Obesity Science and Practice, 2019 Oct 23;5(6):564-569. doi: 10.1002/osp4.370. eCollection 2019 Dec.

2.	Kepper, M., Sothern, M., Zabaleta, J., Ravussin, E., Velasco-Gonzalez, C., Leonardi, C., Griffiths, L., Park, C., Estrada, J., Scribner, R. Pre-pubertal children exposed to concentrated disadvantage:   An exploratory analysis of biomarkers of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, Obesity, 2016, 24(5), 1148-1153.

3.	Zabaleta, J., Velasco-Gonzalez, C., Estrada, J., Ravussin, E., Pelligrino, N., Mohler, M., Larson-Meyer, E., Boulares, H., Powell-Young, Y., Bennett, B., Happel, K., Cefalu, W., Scribner, R., Tseng, T., Sothern, M. Inverse correlation of inflammatory markers with metabolic parameters in healthy, Black and White pre-pubertal youth. International Journal of Obesity, 2014, 38, 563–568; doi:10.1038/ijo.2013.220.

4.	Nuss, H., Altazan, A., Zabaleta, J., Sothern, M., Redman, L.  Maternal pre-pregnancy weight status modifies the influence of PUFAs and inflammatory biomarkers in breastmilk on infant growth. Plos One, 2019, May 29;14(5): e0217085. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217085. eCollection, 2019.

5.	Broyles, S., Staiano, A., Drazba, K., Gupta, A., Sothern, M., Katzmarzyk, P. Elevated C-reactive Protein in Children from Risky Neighborhoods: Evidence for a Stress Pathway Linking Neighborhoods and Inflammation in Children, PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(9):e45419.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045419.

6.	Powell-Young, Y., Zabaleta, J., Velasco-Gonzalez, C., Sothern, M. A Cohort Study Evaluating the Implications of Biology, Weight Status and Socioeconomic Level on Global Self-esteem Competence among Female African-American Adolescents, Journal of the National Black Nurses Association, 2014, 24(1), 1-8.

7.	Iwuchukwu, I, Cornwell, K, Zabaleta, J, Mahale, N, Ryder, J, Hsieh, B, Jennings, B, Sothern, M. Racial differences in intracerebral hemorrhage outcomes in patients with obesity, Obesity Science and Practice, 2018 Apr 19;4(3):268-275. doi: 10.1002/osp4.167.

Under Dr. Sothern’s direction, her research team led the field of in establishing standardized guidelines for prescribing exercise for children, adolescents and adults with increasing levels of obesity.

The textbook, Safe and Effective Exercise for Overweight Youth, is the culminating publication of this work and encompasses decades of scientific research and clinical experience. The recommendations contained within are based on current scientific evidence and personal clinical experience working with thousands of overweight and obese children and adolescents for 25 years. The contents provide accurate, scientifically sound and practical guidance that clinical health care providers may utilize to promote physical activity in overweight children of all ages including those with significant obesity and chronic conditions such as hypertension, asthma and type 2 diabetes. The text also includes a current best practices model for implementing clinical and recreational based physical activity interventions. Emerging scientific evidence using experimental methods confirms our initial exercise testing findings and resulting intervention designs. Results of these subsequent studies continually support our initial hypothesis: Children with increasing levels of obesity are physiologically and metabolically impaired during exercise, especially weight-bearing modalities. This is especially relevant in those with co-morbidities such as asthma, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and musculoskeletal disorders. Dr. Sothern’s studies in adults show similar physiologic and functional motor skill outcomes during running illustrating an inherent weight bias. Selected references are below:

1.	Bonis, M., Welch, B., Eason, R., Loftin, M., Sothern, M. Movement by Age and Sex Using the Functional Movement Screen: Journal of Education and Social Policy, 7(1):1-7 (March, 2017).

2.	Sothern, M. Safe and Effective Exercise for Overweight Youth, 2014, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL.

3.	Loftin, M., Sothern, M., Abe, T., Bonis, M., Expression of VO2peak in Children and Youth with Special Reference to Allometric Scaling, Sports Medicine, 2016 Oct;46(10):1451-60. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0536-7. Review.

4.	Sothern, M., Loftin, M., Blecker, U., Suskind, R., & Udall, J. The impact of significant weight loss on maximal oxygen uptake in obese children and adolescents, Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2000; 48(6): 411-416. 

5.	Loftin, M., Sothern, M., Koss, C., Tuuri, G., Vanrancken, C., Kontos, A., Bonis, M. Energy expenditure and influence of physiologic factors during marathon running, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2007; 21(4), 1188-1191.

6.	Sothern, M, Loftin, M, Blecker, U, Suskind, R, & Udall, J. The impact of significant weight loss on maximal oxygen uptake in obese children and adolescents, Journal of Investigative Medicine, 2000; 48(6): 411-416.

7.	Sothern, M., Loftin, M., Udall, J., Suskind R., Ewing, T., Tang, S., & Blecker, U. Safety, feasibility and efficacy of a resistance training program in preadolescent obese children. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 2000; 319: 370-375.  

Under Dr. Sothern’s leadership her research team was the first to report that markers for insulin resistance commonly seen in adults are already apparent in healthy children prior to puberty. Using state-of-the-art methodologies, we found significant relationships between insulin resistance and fat within liver cells, but not skeletal muscle cells in an ethnically-mixed cohort of children. We further demonstrated that metabolic antecedents of insulin resistance, liver and abdominal fat, occur early in these youth prior to puberty, especially in obese children. 

We discovered several early markers for metabolic dysfunction in healthy, pre-pubertal children with and without obesity including ectopic fat (intrahepatic [IHL] and intramyocellular [IMCL] lipids and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues (VAT and SAT) using state of the art measures, e.g. 1H-MRS and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

 We also found that increasing adiposity promotes impaired insulin sensitivity (via Frequently Sampled Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test [FSIVGTT]) and ectopic fat accumulation in both skeletal muscle and liver, but that only fat accumulation in liver is significantly associated with insulin resistance. Based on these results in healthy, exclusively pre-pubertal children, 7-9 years of age, it is clear that metabolic dysfunction occurs earlier in life than previously reported. This finding prompted our team to seek earlier opportunities to implement intervention strategies, e.g. preschool years, pre-and-post natal developmental periods, child-bearing years (adolescence to early adulthood). Our earlier work in the molecular basis for metabolic health in collaboration with Columbia University identified exonic and intronic sequence variation in the human receptor gene. Selected references are below:

1.	Bennett, B, Larson-Meyer, E, Ravussin, R, Volaufova, J, Soros, A, Cefalu, W, Chalew, S, Gordon, S, Smith, S,  Newcomer, B, Goran, M, Sothern, M. Impaired Insulin Sensitivity and Elevated Ectopic and Visceral Fat in Obese Versus Non-Obese Healthy Prepubertal Children, Obesity, 2012, 20(2):371-5 (E-10.1038/oby.2011.264)

2.	Larson-Meyer, E., Newcomer, B., Ravussin, E., Volaufova, J., Bennett, B., Chalew, S. Cefalu, W., and Sothern, M. Intrahepatic and Intramyocellular Lipid are Determinants of Insulin Resistance in Pre-pubertal Children, Diabetologia, 2011, 54 (4): 869-75.

3.	Larson-Meyer, DE., Newcomer, BR., VanVrancken-Tompkins, CL., Sothern, MS. Feasibility of assessing muscle and liver lipid in prepubertal children. Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, 2010,12(3): 207-212.

4.	Bonis, M, Loftin, M, Sothern, M Comparison of the Metabolic Process of Bone Mineral Density of Females during the Life Cycle using Allometric Scaling Techniques. American Journal of Biomedical Science and Research, 2020, 8(6), AJBSR.MS.ID.001323

5.	Chung, W., Power-Kehoe, L., Chua, M., Chu, F., Aronne, L., Huma, Z., Sothern, M., Udall, J., Kahle, B., Leibel, R. Exonic and intronic sequence variation in the human receptor gene (LEPR). Diabetes. 1997, 46(9), 1509-1511. 

Our research includes numerous publications examining the social and physical environment in support of physical activity and healthy nutrition. We recently reported that residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood alters parental perceptions of collective efficacy and promotes constraint of offspring’s outdoor play. 

Dr. Sothern and her team observed significant relationships between pre-school obesity and the presence of grocery stores, vegetable intake and outdoor play and that access to outdoor play areas and equipment increases physical activity in young children.

Selected references are below:

1.	Kepper MM, Sothern M, Theall K, Griffiths L, Scribner R, Tseng T, Schaettle P, Cwik J, Felker-Kantor E, Broyles S. Using Google Street View to systematically observe neighborhood environments at high spatial resolution: a feasible and reliable method. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2017; 52(1): S20-S30.

2.	Kepper MM, Broyles S, Scribner R, Katzmarcyk P, Tseng T, Zabaleta J, Griffiths L, Sothern M. Parental Perceptions of Collective Efficacy Are Inversely Related to Constraint of Adolescent’s Neighborhood Physical Activity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2016; 13(12): 1266.

3.	Kepper, M., Tseng, T., Volaufova, J., Scribner, R., Nuss, H., Sothern, M. Pre-school obesity is inversely associated with vegetable intake, grocery stores & outdoor play. Pediatric Obesity, 2015,11(5): e6-e8.

4.	Bonis M, Loftin M, Ward D, Tseng TS, Clesi A, Sothern M. Improving physical activity in daycare interventions. Child Obes. 2014 Aug;10(4):334-41. doi: 10.1089/chi.2014.0040. Epub 2014 Jul 23. PMID: 25055027.

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, the Buck Institute on Aging, the Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic, the and the University of Wyoming Center on Aging developed and implemented a pilot study to examine pulmonary, physical and cognitive function, oxygen uptake, fitness and cardio-metabolic parameters in postmenopausal women with obesity receiving a nutrition supplement (Vitamins B1, B6, Nicotinamide, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Black Pepper). Significant improvements in the ability to burn fat, improved memory, reduced abdominal fat and calorie intake and improved female hormone profile were observed following the 6-month intervention. Selected references are below:

1. Thompson, T., Dhar S., Hoskinson, W., Peterson, K., Gerard, D., Tanwar, V., McKibbin, C., Missikpode, C., Kapahi, P., Sothern, M. A Novel nutritional supplement improves phenotypic age, fat oxidation and immediate recall in postmenopausal women with obesity. Aging Research and Drug Discovery/XPRIZE Healthspan Team Summit, August, 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark

2. Peterson, K., Thompson, T., Dhar S., Sothern, M., McKibbin, C., Gerard, D., Missikpode, C., Hoskinson, W. (2023). Physical function predicts cognitive function in rural-dwelling postmenopausal women with obesity. Aging Research and Drug Discovery/XPRIZE Healthspan Team Summit, August, 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark

3. Hoskinson W, Sothern M, Thompson T, Vineeta Tanwar KS, Gerard D, Singh P, McKibbin C, Missikpode C, Hoskinson W, Kapahi P, Dhar S. Follicle-stimulating hormone is reduced following a novel nutritional therapeutic in postmenopausal women with obesity. J Clin Transl Sci. 2025 Apr 11;9(Suppl 1):151–2. doi: 10.1017/cts.2024.1097. PMCID: PMC12050826.

4. Taylor Thompson, Vineeta Tanwar, William Hoskinson, Kristin Peterson, Melinda Sothern, Christine L. McKibbin, Celestin Missikpode,  Pankaj Kapahi, Sanjay Dhar. Safety and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Natural, Multi-modal Therapeutic in Postmenopausal Women with Obesity, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.04.25335119 [pre-print]

5. Taylor Thompson, MS, Vineeta Tanwar, PhD, William Hoskinson, DO, Kristin Peterson, MEd, Melinda Sothern, PhD, Christine L. McKibbin, PhD, Celestin Missikpode, PhD, Pankaj Kapahi, PhD, Sanjay Dhar, PhD. Safety and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Natural, Multi-modal Therapeutic in Postmenopausal Women with Obesity, Obesity Science and Practice [in review].

The Hoskinson Health research team under Dr. Sothern’s explored behavioral interventions for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The program was shown to be safe and feasible and children and parents self-reported beneficial effects. 

Inara McMaster, William Hoskinson, Taylor Thompson, Kristin Stone, Melinda Sothern, Harsha Pasam, Naga Jyothi Karanam, Celestin Missikpode, Sanjay Dhar. Safety, feasibility, child, and parent perceptions following biofeedback and breathing practices in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: The healing minds study, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. Volume 10:s1, 11-12 https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.1026.10270 .Scientific Meeting Presentation:  [Top 50 poster presentation: Association of Clinical and Translational Science Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, April 21-23]

Our team also developed and implemented epidemiological studies in preventive cardiology as follows:

Daniel Davidovich, William Hoskinson, Harsha Pasam, Celestin Missikpode, Melinda Sothern, Julie Weisz, Naga Jyothi Karanam, Sanjay Dhar. Clinical Actionability of Initial Echocardiographic Findings in a Real-World Preventive Cohort, American Journal of Preventive Cardiology. Scientific Meeting Presentation: 2026 American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, July 31-August 2026, Scottsdale, AZ 

Recent PhD student study publications include:

Gonzalez, G., Lin, HY., Glick, J., Sothern, M., Trapido, E., Tseng, TS. The relationship between body image shame and binge eating risk is partially mediated by perceived behavioral control in U.S. adults. American Public Health Association, San Antonio, TX., November 2026 (accepted for publication and presentation)

Links to published articles and additional publications are available at: 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Melinda-Sothern