Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, PhD

Stephanie Jilcott PittsProfessor

email: jilcotts@ecu.edu

Dr. Stephanie Jilcott Pitts was born and raised in Bertie County, eastern North Carolina. She received a BS in Biology with minors in Information/Library Science and Chemistry, and a PhD in Nutrition with a minor in Epidemiology, all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon degree completion, she worked for World Harvest Mission in Bundibugyo, Uganda, designing and evaluating nutrition programs for malnourished and at-risk children. She came to the ECU Department of Public Health in July 2008. Her research is focused on examining and addressing policy and environmental factors related to obesity, diet, and physical activity.

Education

  • BS, Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • PhD, Nutrition (Epidemiology minor), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)

Areas of Interest

  • Nutrition
  • Obesity
  • Environmental and policy change to improve diet and physical activity in underserved populations

Courses Taught

  • MPH 6013 Behavioral Sciences & Health Education
  • MPH 6027 Applied Mixed Methods Research
  • MPH 6991 Professional Paper I
  • MPH 6992 Professional Paper II

Dr. Stephanie Jilcott Pitts Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Significant Publications

Jilcott Pitts SB, Johnson N, Wu Q, Firnhaber G, Kaur A, Obasohan J. A meta-analysis of studies examining associations between resonance Raman spectroscopy-assessed skin carotenoids and plasma carotenoids among adults and children. Nutrition Reviews. Accepted Feb 2021.

McGuirt JT, Wu Q, Laska MN, Rafferty AP, Truesdale KP, Bell RA, Ammerman AS, Jilcott Pitts SB. Associations between shopping patterns, dietary behaviors, and Geographic Information System-assessed store accessibility among small food store customers. Public Health Nutrition. doi:10.1017/S1368980020005017

Lyonnais MJ, Rafferty AP, Jilcott Pitts SB, Blanchard RJ, Kaur AP. Examining shopping patterns, use of food-related resources, and proposed solutions to improve healthy food access among food insecure and food secure eastern North Carolina residents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(10), 3361; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103361.

Jilcott Pitts SB, Ng SW, Blitstein J, Gustafson A, Kelley CJ, Pandya S, Weismiller H. Perceived advantages and disadvantages of online grocery shopping among Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants in eastern North Carolina. Current Developments in Nutrition. 2020;4(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzaa076.

May K, Jilcott Pitts SB, Stage VC, Kelley CJ, Burkholder S, Fang X, Zeng A, Lazorick S. Use of the Veggie Meter® as a tool to objectively approximate fruit and vegetable intake among youth for evaluation of preschool and school-based interventions. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12755.

Jilcott Pitts SB, Wu Q, Truesdale KP, Haynes-Maslow L, McGuirt JT, Ammerman A, Bell R, Laska MN. One-year follow-up examination of the impact of the North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program on healthy food availability, purchases, and consumption. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018 Nov 28;15(12).

Haynes-Maslow L, Osborne I, Jilcott Pitts SB. Examining best practices and innovative solutions to overcome barriers to delivering policy, systems, and environmental changes within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-education in rural communities: a mixed methods study. Nutrients. 2018; 10, 1012; doi:10.3390/nu10081012.

Jilcott Pitts SB, Ng SW, Blitstein J, Gustafson A, Niculescu M. Online grocery shopping: promise and pitfalls for healthier food and beverage purchases. Public Health Nutrition. 2018;21(18):3360-3376. doi: 10.1017/S1368980018002409. Epub 2018 Oct 19.