She is an expert in nutritional epidemiology and dietary and physical activity assessment. Dr. Laraia has focused on household food insecurity, stress, and the measurement of social-environmental indicators and the food environment for the past ten years. She has also studied how the psychological stress of living in a low socioeconomic neighborhood may affect birth outcomes, determinants of physical activity among pregnant women, and the influence of a lack of accessibility to grocery stores on the diet of pregnant women. Her ongoing research shows links between dysregulated eating behavior (high restraint) and food insecurity predicting weight gain during pregnancy. Dr. Laraia is a national leader in the area of food insecurity and obesity.