Erin Hobin

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Other Academic Appointments

Senior Scientist, Public Health Ontario

Assistant Professor (status only), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Collaborating Scientist, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria

At a Glance

• Dr. Hobin's research focuses on investigating the impact of a simple, standardized on-shelf nutrition labelling system on the nutritional quality of consumer food purchases in supermarkets in Canada.
• She also examines the impact of the Ontario Healthy Choices Act on the nutritional quality of food and beverages on restaurant menus.
• Dr. Hobin's research interests also include testing the efficacy of various formats for displaying calorie information for alcoholic beverages on restaurant menus among young adults.
• In addition, she is working on developing and evaluating the impact of alcohol container cancer warnings on consumers’ awareness and knowledge of alcohol-related health risks and alcohol drinking behaviours.

About Dr. Erin Hobin

Dr. Erin Hobin (PhD) is a Senior Scientist at Public Health Ontario, a Collaborating Scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR), and has status only appointments in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating population level interventions for reducing and preventing chronic disease and reducing health inequities. The goal of her research is to better understand if and how large-scale interventions affect the health of Canadians. Erin has led a number of studies examining the impact of interventions implemented on food packages and in food environments, including supermarkets and restaurants, as natural experiments. Erin has been invited as a scientific expert on food- and obesity-related matters in the media (e.g., CBC, National Post), and has presented at national and international conferences and to NGOs, the food industry, and provincial and national governments, including invited presentations to Health Canada Bureau of Nutrition and Federal-Provincial/Territorial Menu Labelling Working Group. Erin recently led a high profile alcohol labelling study in Yukon, Canada that is strongly cited in alcohol policy reports and presentations led by the World Health Organization.

National and International Committee Memberships (Current)

Scientific Expert Panel, Updating Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, Chaired by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction

Recent Publications

1. McGavock J, Hobin E, Prior HJ, Swanson A, Smith BT, Booth GL, Russell K, Rosella L, Isaranuwatchai W, Whitehouse S, Brunton N, Burchill C. Multi-use physical activity trails in an urban setting and cardiovascular disease: a difference-in-differences analysis of a natural experiment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2022 Mar 28;19(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s12966-022-01279-z. PMID: 35346244; PMCID: PMC8962160.
2. Armstrong MJ, Cantor N, Smith BT, Jesseman R, Hobin E, Myran DT. Interrupted time series analysis of Canadian legal cannabis sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 Mar 22:10.1111/dar.13465. doi: 10.1111/dar.13465. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35316855; PMCID: PMC9111650.
3. Warren C, Hobin E, Manuel DG, Anderson LN, Hammond D, Jessri M, Arcand J, L'Abbé M, Li Y, Rosella LC, Manson H, Smith BT. Socioeconomic position and consumption of sugary drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% juice among Canadians: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Can J Public Health. 2022 Feb 9. doi: 10.17269/s41997-021-00602-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35138596.
4. Hobin E, Weerasinghe A, Schoer N, Vanderlee L, Shokar S, Orr S, Poon T, Hammond D. Efficacy of calorie labelling for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on restaurant menus on noticing information, calorie knowledge, and perceived and actual influence on hypothetical beverage orders: a randomized trial. Can J Public Health. 2022 Jan 3. doi: 10.17269/s41997-021-00599-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34978680.
5. Singhal S, Warren C, Hobin E, Smith B. How Often Are Dental Care Workers Exposed to Occupational Characteristics that Put Them at Higher Risk of Exposure and Transmission of COVID-19? A Comparative Analysis. J Can Dent Assoc. 2021 Aug;87:l16. PMID: 34905474.
6. Myran DT, Smith BT, Cantor N, Li L, Saha S, Paradis C, Jesseman R, Tanuseputro P, Hobin E. Changes in the dollar value of per capita alcohol, essential, and non-essential retail sales in Canada during COVID-19. BMC Public Health. 2021 Nov 25;21(1):2162. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12226-1. PMID: 34823488; PMCID: PMC8613522.
7. Hammond D, Goodman S, Hobin E. Cannabis use prior to legalisation among alcohol consumers in the Canadian Yukon and Northwest territories. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2021 Dec;80(1):1948254. doi: 10.1080/22423982.2021.1948254. PMID: 34278981; PMCID: PMC8291053.
8. Smith BT, Hack S, Jessri M, Arcand J, McLaren L, L'Abbé MR, Anderson LN, Hobin E, Hammond D, Manson H, Rosella LC, Manuel DG. The Equity and Effectiveness of Achieving Canada's Voluntary Sodium Reduction Guidance Targets: A Modelling Study Using the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition. Nutrients. 2021 Feb 27;13(3):779. doi: 10.3390/nu13030779. PMID: 33673550; PMCID: PMC7997239.
9. Schoueri-Mychasiw N, Weerasinghe A, Stockwell T, Vallance K, Hammond D, Greenfield TK, McGavock J, Hobin E. Use as directed: do standard drink labels on alcohol containers help consumers drink (ir)responsibly? Real-world evidence from a quasi-experimental study in Yukon, Canada. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2021 Feb;40(2):247-257. doi: 10.1111/dar.13165. Epub 2020 Oct 19. PMID: 33078447; PMCID: PMC8550267.
10. Hobin E, Smith B. Is another public health crisis brewing beneath the COVID-19 pandemic? Can J Public Health. 2020 Jun;111(3):392-396. doi: 10.17269/s41997-020-00360-z. Epub 2020 Jun 18. PMID: 32557350; PMCID: PMC7301768.

In the News

Could your cocktail give you cancer? The Agenda with Steve Paikin. February 10, 2021.

Afternoons with Rob Breakenridge. Global News Radio Calgary. Approaches for controlling access to alcohol in Canada during COVID-19. July 29, 2020.

It’s official, COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in alcohol use. Vancouver Sun. Interview by Denise Ryan. July 25, 2020.