The Health Psychology laboratory is one of fourteen research laboratories at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and is part of the Center's Division of Clinical Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome and the Division of Health and Performance Enhancement. The laboratory is composed of 45 members.The main focus of the laboratory is the prevention and treatment of obesity in children and adults via behavioral approaches. 

Donald A. Williamson, Ph.D., a John S. McIlhenny Endowed Professor and Chief of Health Psychology, and faculty of the laboratory, have been successful in acquiring funding for major clinical trials from various sources such as the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Army. Ongoing clinical studies within the Health Psychology labs include Look Ahead, CALERIE, and Military Health Behaviors: Weight Measurements and Standards for Soldiers. Recently, the laboratory completed the HIPTeens program.  HIPTeens was a two-year study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative internet-based intervention for weight loss in overweight African-American girls. This novel approach, along with the innovative methods used in the Wise Mind study, have proven to be effective for weight loss and have been integrated into the new LA Health study. In collaboration with LA GEAR UP, the LA Health project has been designed to study the effectiveness of a combination weight-gain prevention/weight-loss intervention program in children who are at risk for overweight or who are already overweight, respectively. LA Health is a three-year study and is a school-based program targeting children in rural parishes of Louisiana.  The Health Psychology laboratory also directs studies in the Ingestive Behavior Laboratoy (IBL).