STRONG Kids Program

Overview

Including researchers across many disciplines, the STRONG Kids Program is a comprehensive approach to the study of childhood obesity and health. The program examines how genetic, family, community, child care, cultural, and media factors contribute to the development of childhood weight imbalance, obesity, health behaviors, and health beliefs. Ultimately, findings will serve as the basis for obesity prevention and intervention programs.

Research Projects

• STRONG Kids 2 (Ongoing)
• STRONG Kids 1 (Completed)

Subprojects

Several subprojects utilize STRONG Kids data to examine things such as children’s media exposure and nutritional knowledge, parent-child relationships as potential moderators of health practices, or families’ health literacy as it relates to weight management and body image. The following are subprojects of the STRONG Kids Program.

Ongoing Subprojects

• Dietary and Microbial Predictors of Childhood Obesity Risk
• Microbial Interrelationships Between Mothers and Infants by Mode of Feeding
• Follow Through on the Intent to Breastfeed: The Impact of Non-Parental Child Care
• Protective Parents Project

Completed Subprojects

• Family Health Awareness Study
• Examining Food Marketing and Promotion to Young Children in the Retail Food Store Environment
• Obesity Risk Biomarkers
• Preschoolers’ Food Preferences and Nutritional Knowledge
• The Role of Head Start and Child Care Classrooms in Early Childhood Obesity—A Cumulative Risk Model

Research Team

Principal Investigators

• Barbara Fiese, PhD, Family Resiliency Center Director, Human Development and Family Studies
• Kristen Harrison, PhD, Professor, Communication Studies, University of Michigan
• Kelly Bost, PhD, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
• Brent McBride, PhD, Director, Child Development Laboratory, Human Development and Family Studies
• Sharon Donovan, PhD, RD, Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition

Co-Investigators

• Diana Grigsby-Toussaint, PhD, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Community Health
• Janet Liechty, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and College of Medicine
• Margarita Teran-Garcia, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition
• Angela Wiley, PhD, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Project Coordinator

• Chelsea Hetherington, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies

Contact

Chelsea Hetherington
Project Coordinator
Phone: 217-300-0858
Email: chelsea1@illinois.edu