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Health Behavior

What is Health Behavior?

Health Behavior seeks to eliminate health disparities and improve quality of life for persons and communities through individual behavior change, environmental interventions and policy changes. The department prepares students to identify the role of biological, behavioral, environmental and social forces on population health. Students leverage these elements when planning and evaluating programs, services and policies designed to improve the health of individuals and communities.

Alumni Kristina Savitske talking about food safety

Why did you choose Texas A&M?

WHAT CAN I DO IF I STUDY HEALTH BEHAVIOR?

Graduates of the Department of Health Behavior go on to work in a variety of settings. Graduates of our programs are employed with the national health agencies, academic institutions and universities, community health agencies and departments, for-profit and non-profit companies, and hospitals. For instance, our graduates have gone on to serve as public health leaders at the following agencies: 

  • Center for Disease Control and Prevention
  • National Rural Health Association
  • Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse
  • National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute
  • Dell Children's Medical Center
  • Brooke Army Medical Center
  • Brazos County Health District

Faculty and Research

Our faculty represent a wide array of disciplines, expertise, and interests within Health Behavior. Their expertise includes comprehensive school health, sex-related behaviors and substance abuse, genomics, health program evaluation, community health development strategies and assessment, minority health disparities, rural and border health issues, global health, reducing food insecurity, chronic disease prevention, and active living policy and obesity prevention.

Notable faculty studies and projects include:

  • Brazos Valley Health Assessments
  • Health capacity building in rural communities
  • Adolescent smoking cessation program
  • Border nutrition and obesity prevention programs
  • Chronic disease prevention through nutrition education
  • Texas Rape Prevention and Education Program evaluation
  • Physical activity interventions for low-income, diverse communities
Alumni Amy Elizondo speaking at the Brazos Valley Health Assessment