Dr Meron Lewis
Research Fellow
School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences
Researcher biography
Dr Meron Lewis is a Research Fellow with the University of Queensland's food pricing research team in the School of Public Health. Her research has included supporting Prof. Amanda Lee with the development and implementation of the Healthy Diets ASAP suite of protocols in the co-creation of transformative food systems for public health and wellbeing, equity and environmental sustainability, including invited work for remote First Nations communities. This research has also been used by the QLD Council of Social Services (QCOSS) in preparation of household budget standards for inclusion in their Living Affordability in Queensland 2022 & 2023 Reports.
Publications
Journal Articles
Brimblecombe, Julie, Ferguson, Megan, McMahon, Emma, Fredericks, Bronwyn, Turner, Nicole, Pollard, Christina, Maple-Brown, Louise, Batstone, Joanna, McCarthy, Leisa, Miles, Eddie, De Silva, Khia, Barnes, Adam, Chatfield, Mark, Hill, Amanda, Christian, Meaghan, van Burgel, Emma, Fairweather, Molly, Murison, Anna, Lukose, Dickson, Gaikwad, Surekha, Lewis, Meron, Clancy, Rebekah, Santos, Claire, Uhlmann, Kora, Funston, Sarah, Baddeley, Laura, Tsekouras, Sally, Ananthapavan, Jaithri, Sacks, Gary and Lee, Amanda (2024). Benchmarking for healthy food stores: protocol for a randomised controlled trial with remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia to enhance adoption of health-enabling store policy and practice. BMC Public Health, 24 (1) 1790. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19277-0
Lee, Amanda J., Rainow, Stephan, Balmer, Liza, Hutchinson, Rhiannon, Bryce, Suzanne, Lewis, Meron, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Torzillo, Paul, Stevens, Robert, Kavanagh, Margaret, Wells, Lisa, Kenny, Ingrid, Nganampa Health Council, Nyaningu, Jamie, Singer, John, Haines, Sue, Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council, Smith, Kunmanara, Fox, Yangi Yangi, Baker, Maureen, Bandicha, Yanyi, Forbes, Janet, Kulitja, Rene, Lewis, Wanatjura, Naylon, Peggy, Roberts, Tjawina Nellie, Tjiweri, Lily, Ward, Martha, Windy, Carmen and Ross, Lynette (2024). Making it on the breadline – improving food security on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, Central Australia. BMC Public Health, 24 (1) 3087. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20495-9
Dawson, Emily, Chung, Alexandra, Vargas, Carmen, Backholer, Kathryn, Lee, Amanda, Lewis, Meron, Brooks, Ruby, Schultz, Sally, Bennett, Rebecca, Martino, Florentine and Zorbas, Christina (2024). The Price of Foods, Beverages, and Diets in Australia: An Updated Systematic Review. Nutrition Reviews, 83 (3) nuae129, 1-15. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuae129
Lewis, Meron, Nash, Stephen and Lee, Amanda J. (2024). Cost and affordability of habitual and recommended diets in welfare-dependent households in Australia. Nutrients, 16 (5) 659, 1-16. doi: 10.3390/nu16050659
Herath, Manoja P., Murray, Sandra, Lewis, Meron, Holloway, Timothy P., Hughes, Roger, Jayasinghe, Sisitha, Soward, Robert, Patterson, Kira A. E., Byrne, Nuala M., Lee, Amanda J., Hills, Andrew P. and Ahuja, Kiran D. K. (2023). Habitual diets are more expensive than recommended healthy diets. Nutrients, 15 (18) 3908, 1-11. doi: 10.3390/nu15183908
Whelan, Jillian, Brimblecombe, Julie, Christian, Meaghan, Vargas, Carmen, Ferguson, Megan, McMahon, Emma, Lee, Amanda, Bell, Colin, Boelsen-Robinson, Tara, Blake, Miranda R., Lewis, Meron, Alston, Laura and Allender, Steven (2023). CO-creation and evaluation of food environments to Advance Community Health (COACH). AJPM Focus, 2 (3) 100111, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2023.100111
Lewis, Meron, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Chatfield, Mark D., Tan, Ru Chyi, Dale, Alana, Nash, Stephen and Lee, Amanda J. (2023). Healthy food prices increased more than the prices of unhealthy options during the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent challenges to the food system. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (4) 3146, 1-17. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043146
Lee, Amanda J., Patay, Dori, Summons, Susannah, Lewis, Meron, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Nona, Francis, Canuto, Condy, Ferguson, Megan and Twist, Aletia (2022). Cost and affordability of healthy, equitable and more sustainable diets in the Torres Strait Islands. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 46 (3), 340-345. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.13225
Lewis, Meron, McNaughton, Sarah, Rychetnik, Lucie, Chatfield, Mark and Lee, Amanda (2021). Dietary intake, cost and affordability by socioeconomic group in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (24) 13315, 13315. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413315
Lee, Amanda J., Patay, Dori, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Tan, Ru Chyi, Nicoll, Evelyn, Fredericks, Bronwyn and Lewis, Meron (2021). Affordability of heathy, equitable and more sustainable diets in low-income households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nutrients, 13 (12) 4386, 4386. doi: 10.3390/nu13124386
Zorbas, Christina, Brooks, Ruby, Bennett, Rebecca, Lee, Amanda, Marshall, Josephine, Naughton, Shaan, Lewis, Meron, Peeters, Anna and Backholer, Kathryn (2021). Costing recommended (healthy) and current (unhealthy) diets in urban and inner regional areas of Australia using remote price collection methods. Public Health Nutrition, 25 (3) PII S1368980021004006, 1-10. doi: 10.1017/s1368980021004006
Lewis, Meron, McNaughton, Sarah A., Rychetnik, Lucie and Lee, Amanda J. (2021). Cost and affordability of healthy, equitable and sustainable diets in low socioeconomic groups in Australia. Nutrients, 13 (8) 2900, 1-19. doi: 10.3390/nu13082900
Lee, Amanda, Patay, Dori, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Parnell Harrison, Ella and Lewis, Meron (2021). Affordability of current, and healthy, more equitable, sustainable diets by area of socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness in Queensland: insights into food choice. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20 (1) 153, 1-17. doi: 10.1186/s12939-021-01481-8
Lewis, Meron, McNaughton, Sarah A., Rychetnik, Lucie and Lee, Amanda J. (2020). A systematic scoping review of the habitual dietary costs in low socioeconomic groups compared to high socioeconomic groups in Australia. Nutrition Journal, 19 (1) 139, 1-12. doi: 10.1186/s12937-020-00654-5
Bryce, Suzanne, Scales, Inawantji, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Wigginton, Britta, Lewis, Meron and Lee, Amanda (2020). Maitjara Wangkanyi: insights from an ethnographic study of food practices of households in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (21) 8109, 8109-22. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218109
Lewis, Meron and Lee, Amanda J. (2020). Affording health during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 44 (6) 1753-6405.13045, 519-520. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.13045
Lewis, Meron and Lee, Amanda J. (2020). Dietary inequity? A systematic scoping review of dietary intake in low socio-economic groups compared with high socio-economic groups in Australia. Public Health Nutrition, 24 (3), 1-19. doi: 10.1017/s1368980020003006
Zorbas, Christina, Lee, Amanda, Peeters, Anna, Lewis, Meron, Landrigan, Timothy and Backholer, Kathryn (2020). Streamlined data-gathering techniques to estimate the price and affordability of healthy and unhealthy diets under different pricing scenarios. Public Health Nutrition, 24 (1), 1-11. doi: 10.1017/s1368980020001718
Lee, Amanda J., Kane, Sarah, Herron, Lisa-Maree, Matsuyama, Misa and Lewis, Meron (2020). A tale of two cities: the cost, price-differential and affordability of current and healthy diets in Sydney and Canberra, Australia. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17 (1) 80, 80. doi: 10.1186/s12966-020-00981-0
Lee, Amanda and Lewis, Meron (2018). Testing the price of healthy and current diets in remote Aboriginal communities to improve food security: development of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healthy Diets ASAP (Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing) methods. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15 (12) 2912, 2912. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15122912
Love, Penelope, Whelan, Jillian, Bell, Colin, Grainger, Felicity, Russell, Cherie, Lewis, Meron and Lee, Amanda (2018). Healthy diets in rural Victoria-cheaper than unhealthy alternatives, yet unaffordable. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15 (11) 2469, 2469. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15112469
Lee, Amanda J., Kane, Sarah, Lewis, Meron, Good, Elizabeth, Pollard, Christina M., Landrigan, Timothy J. and Dick, Mathew (2018). Healthy diets ASAP – Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing methods protocol. Nutrition Journal, 17 (1) 88, 88. doi: 10.1186/s12937-018-0396-0
Lewis, Meron and Lee, Amanda (2016). Costing 'healthy' food baskets in Australia - a systematic review of food price and affordability monitoring tools, protocols and methods. Public Health Nutrition, 19 (16), 2872-2886. doi: 10.1017/S1368980016002160
Thesis
Lewis, Meron (2022). Dietary intake, cost, and affordability of diets in low socioeconomic groups in Australia. PhD Thesis, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/baa2556
Seminar Paper
Lee, Amanda and Lewis, Meron (2022). Food prices and affordability in a disrupted world. Multi-centre seminar at the International Congress of Obesity .
Generic Document
Lee, Amanda, Herron, Lisa-Maree and Lewis, Meron (2022). One simple solution to healthy, affordable food. https://360info.org.
Research Report
Lee, Amanda and Lewis, Meron (2017). A rapid review of evidence: effective portion size strategies. Ultimo, NSW Australia: The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre.