Professor Greta Defeyter

Professor

Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

Greta Defeyter is Professor of Developmental Psychology in the department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing. Greta is the founder and the Director of the ‘Healthy Living’ Lab at Northumbria University and has spent the last 20 years researching food insecurity, social injustice, school feeding programmes and holiday hunger programmes in the UK. She has received funding from multiple sources and has published numerous papers on school breakfast clubs, school food programmes and holiday hunger programmes in the UK. She is now a recognised expert in this area and in 2015, she was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in recognition of her research with children living in areas of social and economic deprivation. More recently, she joined a prestigious line up of award winners, including Jamie Oliver, by winning a Food Heroes Award from Sustain for her research on school breakfast clubs and holiday hunger programmes. In 2020 she was recognised, by the Big Issue, as one of the top 100 change makers for her research and policy impact on childhood food poverty in the UK. Greta has advised the DfE on the Holiday Activities and Food Progamme (HAF) and is a member of the British Psychological Society Expert Reference Group-From Poverty to Flourishing, a Subject Expert on the American Psychological Association’s-Equity Flattens the Curve Campaign, a civic commissioner on the Gateshead Poverty Truth Commission, an executive member of the North East Child Poverty Commission, a member of the Royal Society of Medicine Health and Food Council, and a trustee of Feeding Britain.

Email Greta

@livinghealthy

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Greta is the founder and the Director of the ‘Healthy Living’ Lab at Northumbria University and has spent the last 20 years researching food insecurity, social injustice, school feeding programmes and holiday hunger programmes in the UK. She has received funding from multiple sources and has published numerous papers on school breakfast clubs, school food programmes and holiday hunger programmes in the UK.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
A brief review of Secondary School Food Policy (SSFP) approaches in the UK from 2010 to 2022, Lali, G., Smith, K., Woodside, J., Defeyter, G., Skafida, V., Morgan, K., Martin, C. 21 Feb 2024, In: Nutrition and Food Science
A survey of nutritional education within the Holiday Activities and Food programme across England, Round, E., Stretesky, P., Defeyter, M. 4 Sep 2024, In: Frontiers in Public Health
Children’s Perspectives of Neighbourhood Spaces: Gender-Based Insights From Participatory Mapping and GIS Analysis, Ozbil Torun, A., Akın, I., Bingol, H., Defeyter, M., Severcan, Y. 13 Nov 2024, In: Urban Planning
Designing as Infrastructuring to Impact Policy, Yee, J., Spencer, N., Defeyter, M. 23 Jun 2024, In: DRS Biennial Conference Series
Diversity and practice: local decision-making practices on multi-cultural diets for British Muslim school children (BMSC) and implications for social justice, Sattar, Z., Carr, S., Lochhead, L., Defeyter, M. 5 Aug 2024, In: Frontiers in Public Health
Food Insecurity Among U.K. Veterans, Stretesky, P., Defeyter, M. 1 Jul 2024, In: Armed Forces and Society
Hunger in the UK classroom, Defeyter, M., Bundy, D., Bremner, M., Page, A. 13 May 2024, The Routledge International Handbook of Equity and Inclusion in Education, London, Taylor & Francis
Predicting Food Insecurity Among UK University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Round, E., Weatherston, S., Stretesky, P., Defeyter, M. 3 May 2024, In: Public Health Nutrition
The importance of food in studying economic hardship and well-being: Does food insecurity mediate the associations between income and stress and well-being in a UK representative sample?, Pepper, G., Defeyter, M., Stretesky, P., Mann, E. 11 Sep 2023, In: Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice
The Nutritional Quality of Food Provision at UK Government-Funded Holiday Clubs: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Energy and Nutrient Content, Vitale, M., Crossland, S., Shinwell, J., Stretesky, P., Defeyter, M., Brownlee, I. 18 Apr 2023, In: Nutrients

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Birmingham - HAF Plus – Co-designing a HAF Plus Service Blueprint and Policy, with Secondary School Pupils and Experts, of Holiday and Out of School Provision, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), StreetGames, £19,994.00
London - HAF Plus – Co-designing a HAF Plus Service Blueprint and Policy, with Secondary School Pupils and Experts, of Holiday and Out of School Provision, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Mayor’s fund for London, £19,994.00
Northumberland - HAF Plus – Co-designing a HAF Plus Service Blueprint and Policy, with Secondary School Pupils and Experts, of Holiday and Out of School Provision, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Northumberland County Council, £19,998.00
Insights North East, Charles, D. (Principal Investigator), Defeyter, G. (Co Investigator), Research England, 01/08/22 - 31/07/25, £989,422.00
An evaluation of Kitchen Social:l: the impact on individuals and communities, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Mayor’s fund for London, 08/01/18 - 07/01/21, £31,138.00
Summer Holiday Project, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Big Lottery Fund, 01/05/17 - 31/03/18, £70,000.00
Online Breakfast club training (2nd cohort), Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Kelloggs, 01/09/16 - 31/08/17, £55,140.00
An evaluation of the provision of holiday clubs and after school clubs for 2-18 year olds in terms of health, social, economic and educational outcomes, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Brake Bros Limited, 11/01/16 - 10/01/19, £36,545.00
Evaluation - HITZ, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Premiership Rugby, 02/11/15 - 28/02/17, £15,000.00
Training for school cooks, Defeyter, G. (Principal Investigator), Hartlepool Borough Council, 01/11/15 - 30/04/16, £3,500.00

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Oral presentation: "Because we are coming here, it's making my life easier" Children's views on what difference holiday clubs make to them 2018
Oral presentation: Holiday hunger, summer learning loss and the importance of summer clubs in tackling these phenomena 2018
Oral presentation: Healthy Living Lab: Public Engagement 2017
Oral presentation: A NEET Solution? Addressing issues of Social Justice through an education project for marginalised youth delivered through Premiership Rugby Clubs 2017
Oral presentation: A NEET Solution? The impact of an education project for marginalised youth delivered through Premiership Rugby Clubs 2017
Oral presentation: School Feeding Programmes 2017
Oral presentation: Holiday hunger: Summer learning loss and wellbeing 2017
Invited talk: Universal free school breakfast: A socioecological perspective of breakfast behaviours in a deprived town within the North-East of England, UK 2017
Oral presentation: Health eating in schools: School breakfast clubs and holiday hunger 2016
Oral presentation: Holiday hunger: The effect on social relationships and educational attainment 2016

PGR Supervision

Eilish Crilley An investigation into the “Kitchen Social” holiday programme in terms of the operation and impacts on the wellbeing, diet and activity of service users. Start Date: 01/03/2018 End Date: 26/10/2021
Emily Mann Holiday Provision: A mixed methods investigation of holiday clubs in terms of location, implementation, delivery and impact Start Date: 01/10/2015 End Date: 11/06/2019
Emily Round An Exploration of the Nutritional Education Component of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme in England Using a Mixed Methods Approach Start Date: 18/01/2021 End Date: 25/06/2024
Emily Mann Holiday Provision: A mixed methods investigation of holiday clubs in terms of location, implementation, delivery and impact Start Date: 01/10/2015 End Date: 11/06/2019
Louise Harvey-Golding Universal Free School Breakfast: A Socioecological Perspective of Breakfast Behaviours Within a Deprived Town in the North-West of England, UK Start Date: 09/12/2013 End Date: 29/09/2017
Rosanna King Beyond the Chartwells Kitchen: An Investigation into the Implementation and Efficacy of a School-based Food Education Programme Start Date: 09/01/2023
Jackie Shinwell An Investigation of Holiday Club Provision: Impact on Children’s Educational Attainment, Nutritional Intake and Wider Family Benefits Start Date: 11/01/2016 End Date: 06/11/2019
Sarah Foster Attachment and Reflective Functioning in Child Welfare Assessment: A Mixed Methods Study Start Date: 01/11/2015 End Date: 01/10/2023
Sarah Foster . Start Date: 01/11/2015 End Date: 31/10/2019
Eilish Crilley Start Date: 01/03/2018 End Date: 29/10/2019
Eilish Crilley Start Date: 01/03/2018 End Date: 31/10/2019
Sarah Foster . Start Date: 01/11/2015 End Date: 29/10/2019
Jackie Shinwell An Investigation of Holiday Club Provision: Impact on Children’s Educational Attainment, Nutritional Intake and Wider Family Benefits Start Date: 11/01/2016 End Date: 31/10/2019
Jackie Shinwell An Investigation of Holiday Club Provision: Impact on Children’s Educational Attainment, Nutritional Intake and Wider Family Benefits Start Date: 11/01/2016 End Date: 29/10/2019
Louise Harvey-Golding Universal Free School Breakfast: A Socioecological Perspective of Breakfast Behaviours Within a Deprived Town in the North-West of England, UK Start Date: 09/12/2013 End Date: 29/09/2017
Sarah Stewart How Do Children and Adults Make Inferences About Ownership? Start Date: 15/09/2008 End Date: 12/06/2014
Pamela Graham School Breakfast Clubs, Social Relationships and Behaviour Start Date: 05/10/2009 End Date: 23/04/2015