Andrea Buchholz, PhD, RD

Professor, Applied Human Nutrition
Department of Family Relations & Applied Nutrition
Email: 
abuchhol@uoguelph.ca
Phone number: 
519-824-4120, ext 52347
Office: 
Dept Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Room 235 Macdonald Institute, Guelph ON Canada, N1G 2W1
Lab: 
Body Composition Lab, Rooms 285-287, Food Science Addition and Human Health and Nutritional Sciences Annex

 

 

About my research

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

Recruiting student researchers: My lab is currently full.

Teaching:

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)

When not professing, I am ...
...a comedic improviser.

...an aspiring tap dancer.

  • 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): 

*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, 8 Jan 2025. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2024-0244

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

*Sheremeta J, Duncan AM, Darlington G, Ma DWL, Haines J, Newton G, Buchholz AC.  Cheese intake is inversely associated with LDL cholesterol in young children.  Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 2022 Dec 1;83(4):208-211. doi: 10.3148/cjdpr-2022-012 

I collaborate with Dr. David Ma and Dr. Jess Haines and other researchers at the University of Guelph on the Guelph Family Health Study (http://www.guelphfamilyhealthstudy.com) and the Family Stress Study.

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

Kyra Ash (MSc-AHN, incoming F25): Eating behaviours and body composition in adults

Noa Mechaly (AHN honours thesis, incoming F25): 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)