Overview
The Dietary and Microbial Predictors of Childhood Obesity Risk project investigated the relationship between infants fed a combination of breast milk and formula and their risk for obesity.
The research team utilized the STRONG Kids2 prospective birth cohort that studies the unique insights into how individual biology interacts with the family environment to promote healthy eating habits in young children. The goal of the project is to determine how the differences in dietary prebiotics influence mutualistic host-microbe interactions in a longitudinal prospective birth cohort of 451 children and relate those to infant growth trajectory, and body weight and body composition at age 4.
The research team investigated the impact of early nutrition on microbiota composition and short chain fatty acid composition and related the findings to growth trajectories in the first 4 years of life, as well as BMI and body composition at age 3. The project was significant because molecular biomarkers that define the relationship between dietary intake, microbiota composition, host gene expression, and child health outcomes will be identified.
Ultimately, this innovative research project will enable the design of evidence-based interventions to optimize infant growth and reduce childhood obesity risk.
Research Team
- Sharon Donovan, Ph.D., RD, Principal Investigator, Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
- Robert Chapkin, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Professor, Texas A&M University
- Ivan Ivanov, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
- Naiman A. Khan, Ph.D., RD, Co-Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
Contact:
Sharon Donovan
217-333-2289; sdonovan@illinois.edu
Funding
This project was funded with a $2.7M grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01DK107561) and grant from the Gerber Foundation).