THE TENNESSEAN
By Rachel Stults
February 4, 2009
In the battle against the epidemic of childhood obesity, doctors at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt intend to start at the beginning.
So they'll follow 1,000 children, from 4 months old to age 2, and track their habits and weight gain. As soon as a child moves to solid foods, juices and physical activity, doctors will guide parents along the way, helping them to make healthy choices and ultimately, keep their child at a healthy weight.
It's all part of a five-year, Vanderbilt-led study, which will begin this fall and is designed to change behavior and assess how those changes affect weight-gain throughout early childhood, doctors say. The study is being funded by a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.