HHP News
NICHD Funds TORC's Childhood Obesity Prevention Project.
The National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has funded a project by researchers in HHP's Texas Obesity Research Center (TORC) led by Dr. Lee (PI), Dr. Ledoux and Dr. O'Connor.
The $275,000 project titled "Science and Community: Partnering to prevent early childhood obesity" was funded by NICHD as part of the NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award for a period of two years.
The project envisions an academic-community partnership, to identify obesity prevention and control strategies via interactive meetings, community events and data collection. The study will develop and test an extracurricular science and career two part internship and fellowship program for high school students. It will also develop and evaluate dietary habits and physical activity intervention for delivery in daycare settings to preschool children. Both will be integrated in the delivery in daycare facilities via mentored, trained high school students.
The program will be comprehensively evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methods to determine reach, efficacy, adoption, implementation and maintenance.