About

Lama Mattar

Associate Professor of Nutrition

Dr. Lama Mattar pursued her BSc and MSc in nutritional sciences at the American University of Beirut. She also completed a PhD specialized in eating disorders and behaviors at University of Pierre & Marie-Curie in Paris, France. Dr. Mattar is currently an associate professor of nutrition. 

She believes that nutrition is the cornerstone of prevention and therapy of many diseases. She practiced clinical dietetics in various specialized units in the USA, Switzerland, Lebanon and France. She further broadened her experience by completing a post-doctoral project on cancer and malnutrition in hospitals.

Dr. Mattar has been actively engaged and strongly committed to teaching and mentoring at all levels in the university. She taught graduate and undergraduate nutrition courses at the American University of Beirut and since her appointment at LAU, she have taught 6 different courses of which she developed 4 and coordinated many. She got awarded from the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs an Excellence scholarship, and from King’s College in London, a research Excellence fellowship.

Research Interests and Projects

Understanding nutritional behaviors, attitudes and practices of humans is a pressing need, in light of the alarming increase in the prevalence of nutrition-related health problems in the Middle East in the last three decades. Dr. Mattar’s research contributes to understanding and preventing various detrimental health problems at an individual and communal level. It proposes policies and community interventions at a grass-root level. She has been invited as guest speaker to several international conferences, and publishes extensively in high impact factor peer-reviewed journals.

In addition, Dr. Mattar is heavily involved in community-related projects where she puts her expertise in nutrition and education at the service of the community as she believes in establishing stronger and more sustainable outreach activities for our graduates.

She attracted grants from UN agencies for community interventions, she is the official nutritionist of the Beirut Marathon Association, she developed and implemented with MMKN-NGO a full program for health and nutrition education in elementary public schools, and she is involved in breastfeeding awareness campaigns.

SDGs Research Mapping

Dr. Lama Mattar conducts research relevant to the following SDGs:

Selected Publications

  1. Violence Against Women in Adulthood Is Associated with Increased Disordered Eating Behaviors and Risk of Eating Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study. Lama Mattar, Joelle Abi Kharma, Nivine Hanach, Farah Al Mashharawi, and Nadine Zeeni.Violence and Gender. Ahead of print http://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2021.0021
  2. Dimassi H, Haddad R, Mattar L, Hassan H, Awada R. Food shopping and food hygiene related knowledge and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of a developing country. Ital J Food Safety [Internet]. 2021Jul.26 [cited 2021Sep.6];10(2).
  3. Abou Al Hassan, S., Cutinha, D. & Mattar, L. The impact of COMT, BDNF and 5-HTT brain-genes on the development of anorexia nervosa: a systematic review. Eat Weight Disord 26, 1323–1344 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00978-5
  4. Is the Severity of the Clinical Expression of Anorexia Nervosa Influenced by an Anxiety, Depressive, or Obsessive-Compulsive Comorbidity Over a Lifetime? Riquin E, Raynal A, Mattar L, Lalanne C, Hirot F, Huas C, Duclos J, Berthoz S, Godart N; EVHAN group.Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 1;12:658416. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.658416. eCollection 2021.
  5. Nutritional status and anxious and depressive symptoms in anorexia nervosa: a prospective study. Pleplé A, Lalanne C, Huas C, Mattar L, Hanachi M, Flament MF, Carchon I, Jouen F, Berthoz S, Godart N.Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 12;11(1):771. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79410-y.
  6. Rizk M and Mattar L, Kern L, Berthoz S, Duclos J, Viltart O, Godart N. Physical Activity in Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review.Nutrients, 2020 Jan 9;12(1)pii: E183. doi: 10.3390/nu12010183.
  7. Issa C., Hobeika M., Salameh P., Zeidan RK. Mattar L. Longer durations of both exclusive and mixed breastfeeding are associated with better health in infants and toddlers Breastfeeding Review, July 2019 (ahead of print)
  8. Mattar L, Farran N, Abi Kharma J., Zeeni N. Movie violence acutely affects food choices in young adults Eating Behaviors, 2019 Apr;33:7-12. 
  9. Mattar L, Hobeika M, et al. Determinants of exclusive and mixed breastfeeding durations and risk of recurrent illnesses in toddlers attending day care programs across Lebanon. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 2019. S0882-5963(18)30274-4.
  10. Abi Nader P., Majed L, Sayegh S, Mattar L., et al. First Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Youth in Lebanon Journal of Physical Activity & Health, November 2018 Jun 1;16(6):385-396
  11. Mattar L., Abiad MG., Chalak A., Diab M., Hassan H. Attitudes and behaviors shaping household food waste generation: Lessons from Lebanon Journal of Cleaner Production, October 2018, (18) 1219-1223
  12. Abi Saleh W., Bou Khalil P., Ouaijan K., Abillama F., Akiki S., Ahmad N., Mattar L*. Evaluation Of Nutrition Support Practices: Results from a Nationwide Survey Clinical Nutrition, 2017; pii: S0261-5614(17)30316-3.
  13. Mattar L, Farran N, Batoul D. Effect of 7-minute workout on weight and body composition The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 2017 Oct;57(10):1299-1304.
  14. Mattar L, Zeeni N, Bassil M. Effect of movie violence on mood, stress, appetite perception and food preferences in a random population. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2015 Aug;69(8):972-3.
  15. Mattar L, Huas C, Godart N. Relationship between affective symptoms and malnutrition intensity in severe Anorexia Nervosa Plos One 2012;7(11)
  16. Mattar L, Thiebaud MR, Huas C, Godart N. Depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in relation to nutritional status and outcome in severe anorexia nervosa. Psychiatry Research, 2012 Jun 14
  17. Mattar L, Pichard C, Godart N, Melchior JC. Can birth weight predict later body composition in anorexia nervosa? European Journal of clinical Nutrition, 2012 1-4.
  18. Mattar L, Pichard C, et al. Underweight Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Using 5 Equations to DXA Clinical Nutrition, 2011 Dec 30(6):746-52.
  19. Mattar L, Godart N, Melchior JC, Pichard C. Anorexia nervosa and the nutritional assessment: Contribution of body composition measurements Nutrition Research Reviews 2011 Mar 8:1-7.
  20. Mattar L, Huas C, Duclos J, Apfel A, Godart N. Relationship between Malnutrition and Depression or Anxiety in Anorexia Nervosa: A Critical Review of the Literature Journal of Affective Disorders 2011 Aug;132(3):311-8.
  21. Mattar L, Mattar MA, Batal M, Mouneimne Y, Obeid OA. Stimulation of postprandial in vivo glycogenesis and lipogenesis of rats fed high fructose diet with varied phosphate content. Nutrition Research, 2010 Feb; 30(2):151-5.

National Guidelines

French National Guidelines for Anorexia Nervosa: Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS)/ Association Française pour le Développement des Approches Spécialisées dans les Troubles du Comportement Alimentaire (AFDAS-TCA) http://www.has-sante.fr/portail/jcms/c_985715/anorexie-mentale-prise-en-charge (France, Sept 2010).

Communication and International Conferences 

  1. Ouaijan K, Juvelekian G, Ghattas N, Mattar L INDICATORS OF OPTIMAL NUTRITION SUPPORT IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT CAN BE IMPROVED BY A MULTIFACETED INTERVENTION: IMPLEMENTATION OF A DEFINED PROTOCOL AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY ROUNDS ESPEN 2019, September 2019, Poland. Poster presentation.
  2. Mattar L., Abi Nader P. et al. Results from the First Lebanon’s Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Youth (2018) XII International Epidemiological Association-Eastern Mediterranean Region Scientific Meeting 2019, February 2019, Beirut, Lebanon. Poster presentation
  3. Abi Nader P., Mattar L., et al. Results from the First Lebanon’s Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Youth (2018) Movement to Move conference 2018, November 2018, Australia. Poster presentation
  4. Mattar L , Juvelekian G, Diab N , Khoury M , Ouaijan K Prediction of Optimal Nutrition Support using the Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (NUTRIC) Score and identification of the Common Barriers to Reach Enteral Nutrition Target in an Intensive Care Unit ASPEN 2018, January 2018, Las Vegas. Poster presentation.
  5. Mattar L, et al. Evaluation of nutrition support practices: Results from the first national survey in hospitals across Lebanon. ESPEN 2016, September 2016, Copenhagen. Poster presentation.
  6. Mattar L. Medium term effect of the seven-minute high intensity workout on body weight, lean body mass, grip strength and heart rate. Obesity Week, Los Angeles 2015. Poster presentation.
  7. Mattar L, Zeeni N, Bassil M. Effect of movie violence on mood, stress, appetite perception and food preferences in a random population. Obesity Week, Boston 2014. Poster presentation. 
  8. Bachand MP, Mattar L (oral presenter), Hébuterne X, Cano N, Schneider S. Evaluation des pratiques d’hydratation chez les patients en nutrition entérale. Journée Française de Nutrition (JFN). December 2013. Oral Presentation.
  9. Mattar L, Pichard C, et al. Underweight Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Using 5 Equations to DXA. International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED). May 2012. Austin, Texas, USA. Oral presentation.
  10. Mattar L, Godart N, Melchior JC and Pichard C, et al. Underweight Patients with Anorexia Nervosa: Comparison of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Using Five Equations to Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry. 33rd ESPEN Congress. September 2011. Gothenburg, Sweden. Outstanding Poster communication.
  11. Mattar L, Coulon N, Godart N. The course of depression, anxiety, obsessionality and social phobia symptoms in relation to malnutrition in anorexia nervosa. The 10th London International Eating Disorders Conference. March 2011. London, UK. Paper presentation.
  12. Mattar L, Falissard B, Godart N. Body composition components in relation to psychological status in anorexia nervosa. ECED conférence. September 2011 ; Florence, Italy. Poster communication.
  13. Mattar L, Coulon N, Godart N. Symptômes dépressifs et anxieux en relation avec la renutrition chez les patients atteints d’anorexie mentale. Congrès International Francophone d’Addictologie. Octobre 2010 ; Nantes, France. Poster communication.

Book Chapters

Jeammet P, Godart N, Mattar L. Anorexie Mentale, in Manuel de Psychiatrie, JD Guelfi and F Rouillon (Eds); Masson-Paris 2011.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris IV), France
  • MSc American University of Beirut, Lebanon
  • BSc American University of Beirut, Lebanon