UNC to coordinate study of ways to prevent, treat childhood obesity
| September 23, 2010 | |
Dr. June Stevens
The University of North Carolina has been named coordinating unit for a $49.5 million research effort, funded by the National Institutes of Health, to examine ways to curtail the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic. June Stevens, PhD, chair of the nutrition department in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, is principal investigator of the coordinating unit for the multi-center study. “Childhood obesity is a major public health concern. If we don’t curb this widespread problem, our country will see a substantial increase in cardiovascular disease and other health issues in the years ahead,” said Susan B. Shurin, MD, acting director of NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “Childhood is the optimal time to encourage healthy habits that kids can practice the rest of their lives.”
The NIH’s Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Research (COPTR) program is among the first long-term obesity prevention and treatment research studies in children. Two obesity prevention and two obesity treatment randomized clinical trials will be conducted over seven years. COPTR will test methods for preventing excessive weight gain in non-overweight and moderately overweight youth, and methods for reducing weight in obese and severely obese youth. Investigators will collaborate with local, state and national organizations on these efforts.
The two obesity prevention trials will develop and test approaches that target home, community and primary care settings for preschool children living in low-income and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. The two obesity treatment trials will examine obesity therapies on overweight and obese children 7 to 14 years old in school and home settings in collaboration with local youth organizations.
COPTR differs from previous childhood obesity research programs, as the new studies will test long-term intervention approaches and target multiple levels of influence — community youth organizations, schools, primary care providers, home and families — and do not focus solely on individuals’ behaviors. Previous research has indicated that obesity interventions conducted at multiple levels can take several years to become fully operational, and therefore it is important to test interventions that are implemented over a period of several years.
COPTR studies will be conducted at:
“The role of the Research Coordinating Unit is to facilitate the work of the Research Centers and promote synergy across the investigative teams,” said Stevens, who is UNC’s AICR/ WCRF Distinguished Professor. “We have assembled an exceptionally strong team of scientists who are excited to assist the Consortium investigators in the conduct of outstanding research that will make a difference to the health of children.” The NHLBI is the lead sponsor of the study, which also receives support from the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Obesity rates have increased four-fold among children in the past 40 years. Today, 17 percent of U.S. children and adolescents are obese. Factors behind this increase are believed to include increased consumption of high-calorie food and drinks and less physical activity during and after school. Overweight and obese children are at higher risk of chronic diseases during childhood and adulthood, including heart disease, stroke, asthma, type 2 diabetes and several cancers. Cardiovascular conditions associated with obesity, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, are increasingly being diagnosed during childhood, as is type 2 diabetes. # # #
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, 919-966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
