Member spotlight – Meet Researcher and ASLM Fellow Sharon Duncan
ASLM Member Spotlights showcase the invaluable work that ASLM Fellows, Board Certified Professionals and member ambassadors are doing to establish Lifestyle Medicine as central to health, healthcare and health policy. ASLM members represent a broad range of medical and health practitioners as well as passionate professionals working in health and wellbeing who believe that and interdisciplinary and lifestyle-centric approach should be considered when it comes to the prevention and management of chronic and lifestyle-related disease.
What is your background?
I left the Nursing/Midwifery profession due to burnout, the need for a break and a career change. I still wanted to contribute to society in some way so completed Masters of Public Health, Health Promotion, Human Nutrition through Deakin University. During this time I was employed by Avondale University in the Academic Support and the Health Promotion context for their Bachelor of Nursing program.
At the commencement of this year, I became affiliated with the University of Wollongong via research scholarship to be involved with a project focusing on increasing vegetable consumption of 3-5 year old children in Early Childhood Education Centres.
Here is the challenge Australian children face with vegetable consumption –
Only 27.7% of 2-3 year olds met their recommended vegetable intake and this drops to 8.4% of 4-8 year olds. One in 4 children are now overweight or obese on entry to primary school.
Statistically, 82% of children attend Early Childhood Education Centres by 4 years of age and consume 40-67% of their daily food intake whilst in that environment. This context provides an opportunity to increase childhood vegetable intake within the 2-5 year age group.
How did you come to Lifestyle Medicine?
As a practising Seventh-day Adventist, I was raised in a family where Lifestyle Medicine was our lifestyle, way back before it became recognised within the health sphere. When I discovered the Australasian Lifestyle Medicine Association around 2016, I joined as a student member and have remained involved. It is wonderful interacting with likeminded people who have a passion for health and understand how lifestyle medicine can practically impact longevity and quality of life.
Why did you choose the ASLM Fellowship?
Having completed Master level studies, I thought that recognition through ASLM in some form may be available, and on investigation decided that Fellowship would be the pathway I could take. As I am no longer practicing as a registered nurse/midwife but involved in academia, the fellowship seemed more applicable. The recognition of prior learning for my studies was very useful and much appreciated. Completing the ACLM Foundations course in many ways was revision of previous learnings from a different perspective and very worthwhile.
How has, or how do you envisage ASLM Fellowship influencing your career/direction?
Working in PhD research and hopefully the academic sphere following completion of this project in 2025, the I believe ASLM Fellowship adds weight to my resume. I would like to continue research in “First 2000 days” of life context, through a lifestyle medicine perspective.
Any advice for members considering ASLM Fellowship enrolment?
I encourage anyone who may have an interest in lifestyle medicine to work toward receiving recognition in this area. It is a long process getting evidence together and having it reviewed, but that process protects the recognition standard, and well worth the wait. Our society needs more people in the lifestyle medicine space, in both research and practice to combat the rise of chronic disease. I’m still undecided whether I will sit the Board Certification exam in the future since my career pathway is now focusing on academia.
Tell us a random fact about yourself
I think I’m a “read-a-holic” and need to keep reminding myself to “break-the-sits” as I get engrossed in my study/work project requirements. Keeping a water bottle on my desk that needs regular refilling helps to both keep me hydrated and encourages me to walk at regular intervals.
Outside of that I love bushwalking, knitting, crocheting and sharing lifestyle information to help others in their journey and accompanying my husband as pillion passenger on the odd weekend motorbike ride.
