Barbara Laraia
· Professor, Community Health SciencesVerifiedUniversity of California, Berkeley · Community Health Sciences
Active 1998–2025
About
Dr. Barbara Laraia is a Professor of Community Health Sciences and Public Health Nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the influence of contextual level effects on dietary intake, cardiometabolic risk factors, and pregnancy outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. She oversees projects investigating how human response to stress influences eating behaviors, metabolic processes, and aging biomarkers, with a primary emphasis on the impact of food insecurity as a double burden of severe stress and poor dietary intake on maternal and child health outcomes. Dr. Laraia has designed and conducted survey research combining questionnaires, dietary assessments, clinical anthropometric measurements, biomarker collection, and neighborhood attribute observations. She has implemented mindfulness stress reduction and healthy eating interventions for middle- and low-income overweight/obese pregnant women, which have demonstrated decreases in stress and depression and improvements in glycemic control. As the Principal Investigator for the NHLBI Growth and Health longitudinal cohort study, she assesses household food security as a key contextual factor affecting access to nutritious foods and indirectly influencing metabolism and aging through stress and eating behaviors. Her work is transdisciplinary, involving collaboration across nutrition, health psychology, neuroscience, social epidemiology, and biostatistics to address health disparities. Dr. Laraia has authored over 150 publications on early life adversity, stress, non-homeostatic eating behaviors, and their effects on dietary intake and metabolic dysregulation, aiming to inform innovative programs and policies.
Research topics
- Medicine
- Demography
- Psychology
- Internal medicine
- Sociology
- Environmental health
- Clinical psychology
- Social psychology
- Obstetrics
- Pediatrics
- Oncology
- Socioeconomics
- Economics
- Economic growth
- Geography
Selected publications
Brain Behavior & Immunity - Health · 2025-06-16
articleOpen accessRacial disparities in health have reached a critical juncture, particularly between Black and White individuals. Inflammation and daily stress have been proposed as biopsychological pathways. However, studies examining links between inflammation and individuals' appraisals of daily stressors—which are modifiable and could be intervention targets—have been limited in diverse populations. This study investigated these associations in a sample of Black and White women. Midlife women (159 Black, 163 White) were part of the National Growth and Health Study prospective cohort study in which they completed daily evening diaries assessing appraisals of daily stressor demands and coping efficacy (feeling in control, efficacious, resourceful). Participants also provided a fasting blood sample which was assessed for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), a systemic inflammatory marker. Multiple linear regression models examined associations between race, daily stressor appraisals, and interactions with hs-CRP, controlling for education, income, and body mass index. Race-stratified models were also examined. The interaction between race and coping efficacy, but not stressor demands, was significantly associated with hs-CRP. Specifically, more positive appraisal of coping efficacy was linked with lower hs-CRP levels in White women ( Beta = -0.147, p = .024), but not in Black women ( Beta = 0.078, p = .226). For White women, greater perceived coping efficacy with daily stressors may buffer stress-related inflammation, providing a promising intervention target. Given the scarcity of daily stress research with diverse samples, we need to better measure and understand these relationships in Black samples and other racial and ethnic groups. • Racial health disparities between Black and White individuals persist • Inflammation and daily stress are potential mechanisms for these disparities • Daily stressor appraisals and inflammation in Black and White women were examined • Greater coping efficacy buffered inflammation in White women, but not Black women • More research is needed to understand these links in Black women and other groups
Food Insecurity in Pregnancy, Receipt of Food Assistance, and Perinatal Complications
JAMA Network Open · 2025-01-23 · 19 citations
articleOpen accessImportance: Food insecurity is a growing public health concern, but its association with perinatal complications remains unclear. Objective: To examine whether food insecurity in pregnancy was associated with the risk of perinatal complications and determine whether these potential associations differed by receipt of food assistance. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from a pregnancy survey conducted between June 22, 2020, and September 9, 2022, at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, an integrated health care system serving a diverse population of 4.6 million. Participants included individuals who delivered singletons. Data were analyzed from December 2023 to June 2024. Exposure: Food insecurity in pregnancy assessed using the validated 2-item Hunger Vital Sign screener. Main Outcomes and Measures: Maternal (gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, cesarean delivery) and neonatal (preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit [NICU] admission, small-for-gestational age [SGA], and large-for-gestational age [LGA]) complications extracted from the electronic health records, and a composite adverse perinatal outcome (APO) of maternal and neonatal complications. Modified Poisson regression models were adjusted for covariates and stratified by receipt of food assistance in pregnancy. Results: Among 19 338 individuals, 2707 (14.0%) reported food insecurity in pregnancy. Individuals with food insecurity in pregnancy had a higher risk of gestational diabetes (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.13 [95% CI, 1.01-1.29]), preeclampsia (aRR, 1.28 [95% CI, 1.11-1.49]), preterm birth (aRR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.02-1.38]), NICU admission (aRR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.07-1.42]), and APO (aRR, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.02-1.13]) compared with individuals without food insecurity. Among 1471 individuals (7.6%) who received food assistance in pregnancy, associations of food insecurity in pregnancy with perinatal complications were attenuated to the null, except for preeclampsia (aRR, 1.64 [95% CI, 1.06-2.53]). On the contrary, the associations persisted among individuals who did not receive food assistance: gestational diabetes (aRR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.04-1.37]), preeclampsia (aRR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.06-1.46]), preterm birth (aRR, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.05-1.46]), NICU admission (aRR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.12-1.52]), and APO (aRR, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.06-1.18]). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, food insecurity in pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of perinatal complications, and these associations were overall attenuated to the null among individuals who received food assistance in pregnancy. These findings support clinical guidelines of screening for food insecurity in pregnancy and provide evidence to expand food assistance programs that may help improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>Steps for estimating risks of all-cause mortality under hypothetical interventions using parametric g-computation</p>
Maternal childhood adversity accelerates epigenetic aging of children.
Health Psychology · 2025-04-15 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessOBJECTIVE: Although early adversity is strongly related to lifelong health disparities, it is unclear how adversity might confer risk across generations. To investigate, we tested the hypothesis that mothers' childhood adversity was associated with their epigenetic aging and that of their children and examined whether associations differed for Black and White mothers. METHOD: Dyads (N = 215) of mothers (52% White, 48% Black, Mage = 39.2, SD = 1.1) and children (N = 215, 55% female, Mage = 8.3, SD = 4.0, range 2-17) provided saliva samples to assay the Horvath clock and pace of aging calculated from the epigenome epigenetic aging measures. Linear regressions were used to estimate the associations of maternal early adversity measures with the outcomes of maternal and child Horvath clock epigenetic age, as moderated by race. RESULTS: For Black, but not White mothers, any abuse before age 13, b = 0.81, p = .007, physical abuse before age 18, b = 1.69, p = .001, and sexual abuse before age 18, b = 1.17, p = .02, were associated with significantly greater Horvath age acceleration in their children. In contrast, there was no relation between maternal childhood adversity and mothers' epigenetic aging, and no significant findings for the pace of aging calculated from the epigenome. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal childhood adversity appears to have a greater effect on the epigenetic aging of the children of Black mothers. The effects of systemic racism on Black Americans may interact with maternal childhood adversity to confer additional risk for Black children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>A simplified causal diagram of the relationship between time-varying diet quality, physical activity and smoking on survival after breast cancer</p>
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>Baseline characteristics comparing Pathways Study enrolled participants with eligible, unenrolled Kaiser Permanente members</p>
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>Left column: comparisons of the observed (solid line) vs the natural course (dotted line) estimates by 4-month time intervals from baseline. Right column: differences between observed and natural course estimates (solid line) and 95% pointwise confidence intervals (dotted lines) by 4-month time intervals from baseline.</p>
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>Immediate cause of death among Pathways participants who died during the study period (n=734)</p>
2025-12-17
articleOpen access<p>Sample output from parametric g-computation algorithm calculating 5-year risks of all-cause mortality when hypothetically intervening on different levels of the healthy plant-based diet score (hPDI)</p>
Social Science & Medicine · 2024-07-14 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessWe examined three generations (grandparents, mothers, and grandchildren) to assess the association between grandparents' educational attainment and their grandchildren's epigenetic-based age acceleration and whether the association was mediated by parental educational attainment and mothers' life course health-related factors. Mothers were recruited to the NHLBI Growth and Health Study at 9-10 years and followed for 10 years (1987-1998). Mothers were then re-contacted three decades later (ages 37-42) to participate in the National Growth and Health Study (NGHS), and health information from their youngest child (i.e., grandchildren; N = 241, ages 2-17) was collected, including their saliva samples to calculate epigenetic age. Five epigenetic-based age acceleration measures were included in this analysis, including four epigenetic clock age accelerations (Horvath, Hannum, GrimAge, and PhenoAge) and DunedinPACE. Grandparents reported their highest education during the initial enrollment interviews. Parental educational attainment and mothers' life course health-related factors (childhood BMI trajectories, adult cardiovascular health behavioral risk score, and adult c-reactive protein) are included as mediators. Grandparents' education was significantly associated with Horvath age acceleration (b = -0.32, SE = 0.14, p = 0.021). Grandchildren with college-degree grandparents showed significantly slower Horvath age accelerations than those without college degrees. This association was partially mediated by parental education and mothers' health-related factors, especially adult cardiovascular health behavioral risk score and CRP, but not mothers' childhood BMI trajectory. This ability to conserve the speed of biological aging may have considerable consequences in shaping health trajectories across the lifespan.
Recent grants
Race, stress and dysregulated eating: Maternal to child transmission of obesity
NIH · $2.6M · 2014–2020
NIH · $497k · 2011
NIH · $3.0M · 2015
NIH · $5.7M · 2017
Frequent coauthors
- 132 shared
Elissa S. Epel
University of California, San Francisco
- 125 shared
Nancy E. Adler
- 64 shared
Cindy W. Leung
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- 64 shared
Elissa S. Epel
University of California, San Francisco
- 63 shared
Nicole R. Bush
Cohort (United Kingdom)
- 49 shared
Cassandra Vieten
University of California, San Diego
- 48 shared
Michael Coccia
University of California, San Francisco
- 42 shared
Karen Jones‐Mason
University of California, San Francisco
Education
- 1999
PhD, MPH, Public Health Nutrition
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Barbara Laraia
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup