This Project Grant award of $1,051,034.40, provided by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865), supports a research project led by Dr. Hazzard, a registered dietitian and public health researcher. The project aims to examine binge eating as a potential mechanism underlying the paradoxical association between food insecurity and elevated risk of obesity in...
This Project Grant award of $165,240 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) will support research to examine the mechanisms of challenging eating behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The key objectives of the research are to: 1) assess parent-child physiological synchrony during mealtimes using ambulatory biosensors, 2) determine how real-time individual...
This Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, CFDA 10.310, supports the development and evaluation of a digital intervention focused on healthy cooking, parent feeding practices, and child involvement in home food preparation for low-income families. The $909,615.40 grant, effective September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2027, will create a...
This $150,034 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) is funding research on the parenting behaviors and self-regulation of low-income ethnic minority mothers and fathers and their toddlers. The key products and services being delivered through this 2-year award to the University of Maryland, College Park include: 1) assessing the levels and changes...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under CFDA 93.865 - Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program provides $551,347 to the University of Houston System to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the efficacy of the "FunPals Playgroup" program in reducing obesity risk among a diverse sample of toddlers aged 18-36 months and their parents. The project aims to determine if the...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (CFDA 93.279 - Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs) provides $193,752 to Boston Medical Center Corporation to implement and evaluate a video-coaching intervention called THRIVE to promote positive parenting behaviors among mothers with opioid use disorder (OUD). The goal is to test the effectiveness of this intervention in improving parenting and reducing child behavior problems for preschool-aged children, as well as...
This Project Grant award of $158,500 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) will support research to illuminate how a parent's adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and neighborhood environment influence their child's obesity risk. The study, led by Temple University, will create a Neighborhood ACEs Index (NAI) to examine how neighborhood characteristics associated with ACEs...
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) awarded a $161,735 Project Grant under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to the Metis Foundation, a non-profit organization based in San Antonio, Texas. The grant funding will support a pilot feasibility study to design and evaluate the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a virtual, single-session, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-informed intervention for addressing...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (CFDA 93.865 - Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research) provides $204,788 to New York University to adapt and evaluate an innovative trauma-focused parenting intervention called Parenting-STAIR for military-connected mothers. The goal is to adapt the existing 23-session Parenting-STAIR intervention, which has shown promise in reducing trauma symptoms and improving parenting skills among...
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) awarded a $1,999,766 Project Grant under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865) to the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska to test the effectiveness of the "Eat for Prevention" multilevel community engagement model for improving dietary intake and health outcomes among 3-5-year-old children in rural family childcare homes. The project, running from September 2024 to...
POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE HEALTHY GROWTH IN CHILDREN AT RISK FOR OBESITY - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT GIVEN OUR OBESOGENIC ENVIRONMENT WITH ABUNDANT ACCESS TO ENERGY-DENSE FOODS, PARENTS OFTEN FEEL LOST ABOUT HOW TO HELP THEIR KIDS MAKE HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES. THIS CAN LEAD TO OVERLY RESTRICTIVE FOOD PARENTING PRACTICES THAT CAN HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES ON CHILD EATING AND WEIGHT OUTCOMES. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING PRACTICES (I.E., STRUCTURE-BASED AND AUTONOMY SUPPORTING FEEDING PRACTICES THAT ARE RESPONSIVE TO CHILD NEEDS) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTHY CHILD EATING AND WEIGHT OUTCOMES. IN THE ONGOING K01, FOOD PARENTING IS BEING EXPERIMENTALLY-MANIPULATED IN TWO CONDITIONS, COERCIVE CONTROL AND STRUCTURE-BASED FEEDING, WITH OBJECTIVELY MEASURED CHILD EATING BEHAVIOR ASSESSED IN THE LABORATORY AFTER EACH CONDITION. PRELIMINARY DATA SUGGEST THAT CHILDREN WITH OVERWEIGHT CONSUMED FEWER CALORIES AFTER THE STRUCTURE-BASED FEEDING CONDITION THAN THEY DID AFTER THE COERCIVE CONTROL FEEDING CONDITION. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE USE OF POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING MAY SUPPORT HEALTHIER EATING BEHAVIORS, BUT MORE WORK IS NEEDED TO EXAMINE LONG-TERM IMPACTS ON EATING AND WEIGHT OUTCOMES. TAKEN TOGETHER, PARENTS NEED EFFECTIVE TOOLS TO HELP ENCOURAGE HEALTHY EATING AND GROWTH WHILE REDUCING THE RISK OF OBESITY. THE GOAL FOR THIS PROGRAM OF RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN EVIDENCE-BASED POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING (I.E., HIGH IN STRUCTURE, AUTONOMY PROMOTING) INTERVENTION TO GIVE PARENTS THE TOOLS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY CHILD GROWTH AND IMPROVE DIET QUALITY IN CHILDREN TO PREVENT OBESITY. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL, THERE IS A NEED TO: IDENTIFY A NOVEL TREATMENT TARGET (I.E., POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING PRACTICES, FOCUS OF THE K01); DEVELOP AND PILOT THE ACCEPTABILITY AND FEASIBILITY OF THIS INTERVENTION (FOCUS OF THIS R03 PROPOSAL); AND TEST THE EFFICACY OF THIS INTERVENTION (FUTURE R01 PROPOSAL). TO ACHIEVE THIS, THE R03 HAS TWO SPECIFIC AIMS. THE GOAL OF SPECIFIC AIM 1 IS TO DEVELOP A POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING INTERVENTION WITH A FOCUS ON STRUCTURE-BASED AND AUTONOMY PROMOTING PRACTICES. THE INTERVENTION WILL BE DEVELOPED BASED ON REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING AND FEEDBACK FROM A SURVEY OF PARENTS OF CHILDREN AGES 5-11. CURRICULUM WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED TO COVER THE MOST COMMON FEEDING CHALLENGES MENTIONED BY PARENTS IN THE SURVEY (E.G., CHILD REFUSING TO EAT WHAT IS SERVED, PARENT NOT HAVING TIME TO COOK). IN SPECIFIC AIM 2, THE INTERVENTION WILL BE PILOTED AND THE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF THE INTERVENTION WILL BE EVALUATED. THIS WILL BE DONE BY ENROLLING 32 PARENT-CHILD DYADS IN THE 12 SESSION (8 GROUP, 4 INDIVIDUAL) INTERVENTION USING A WAITLIST CONTROL DESIGN. ONCE THE INTERVENTION IS DESIGNED AND HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE BOTH ACCEPTABLE TO PARENTS AND FEASIBLE TO CONDUCT, THE EFFICACY OF THIS INTERVENTION WILL BE EVALUATED IN A FULLY POWERED R01. THIS R03 IS A CRITICAL FIRST STEP TOWARD DEVELOPING AN EFFICACY TRIAL AND FULLY POWERED RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL TESTING THE IMPACT OF POSITIVE FOOD PARENTING PRACTICES ON CHILD WEIGHT AND EATING BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN AT RISK FOR OBESITY.