Arkansas News Bureau
FAYETTEVILLE — A $4.78 million federal grant is funding a multi-campus obesity intervention project involving University of Arkansas scientists and educators.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced the five-year grant, “Interventions for Obesity Prevention Targeting Young Children in At-Risk Environments: An Integrated Approach.” The award was funded through the institute’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program.
Rudy Nayga, a professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness in the UA system’s statewide Division of Agriculture, will lead the project.
“Our goals are to improve the diet and healthy behaviors of children, especially those at risk for obesity, and equip educators, childcare providers and other practitioners to tackle the childhood obesity crisis,” said Nayga, also holder of the Tyson chair in Food Policy Economics in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences on the Fayetteville campus.
Co-project directors represent several disciplines from the Fayetteville campus as well as the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
“The project identifies characteristics of the food environment that contribute to childhood obesity and thereby enables the proposed interventions to target those children most at risk for obesity,” Nayga said.
He said interventions are designed to improve the diets of young children, promote physical activity and encourage other healthy behaviors, woven into a comprehensive curriculum designed for use in Head Start, preschool and early elementary classrooms.
The project improves access to fresh fruits and vegetables via a direct farm-to-school distribution network linking local farmers to these schools, Nayga said.
The project will also develop a formal education program to prepare the next generation of child care providers, early childhood educators, and other career professionals so they will have a better understanding of childhood obesity and will be in a better position to address this crisis throughout their professional lives, he said.
The project will include children from age 2 through first grade; adults who shape the environment for young children; agencies and groups involved with food production, marketing, processing and distribution and nutrition in schools; university students preparing for careers that involve combating childhood obesity; and policy makers at the local, state and national level.
