Childhood Health: Understanding Early Risks for Obesity and Mental Well-being
Official title: Retaining the CANDLE cohort to advance ECHO Cohort solution-oriented research and identify early-life modifiable risk factors for obesity and mental health problems in children
Funded at University of Tennessee Health Sci Ctr · NIH-11319133 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to understand how early life experiences influence a child's risk for developing obesity and mental health challenges.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Tennessee Health Sci Ctr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Memphis, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,001,793 |
| NIH project number | 4UH3OD035519-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11319133 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project uses existing data from children and mothers who are already part of the CANDLE and ECHO Cohorts.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not already part of the CANDLE or ECHO Cohorts would not directly participate in this specific data analysis project.
What this research studies
We are looking at information from children and mothers already participating in the CANDLE and ECHO Cohorts to find early life factors that predict adolescent depression and obesity. Our goal is to pinpoint the most important factors so we can develop better ways to prevent these conditions. We are also exploring how a mother's stress during her own childhood and pregnancy might affect her child's mental health risk, and if family or community support can help buffer these effects. Additionally, we are developing a new way to measure a child's overall risk for mental health issues.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new ways to prevent obesity and mental health problems in children by identifying key factors that can be changed early in life.
How similar studies have gone: While individual risk factors have been studied, this project uses a large national dataset to systematically identify and prioritize the most powerful early life predictors, which is a novel approach for comprehensive prevention targets.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Tennessee Health Sci Ctr
Memphis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhao, Qi — University of Tennessee Health Sci Ctr
- Study coordinator: Zhao, Qi
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Retaining the CANDLE cohort to find early-life risk factors for obesity and mental health in kids
A large NIH grant uses data from the CANDLE and ECHO cohorts to find early-life factors linked to obesity and mental health problems in children and teens.
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Community-driven Infant Obesity Prevention: Supporting Healthy Feeding by Addressing Moms’ Mental Health
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Obesity and GLP-1 treatment in young people with type 1 diabetes
A study in teens and young adults with type 1 diabetes and obesity will look at how a GLP-1–based obesity medicine affects body fat distribution, insulin resistance, and lipids.
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Reducing social hardships to help rural parents with substance use and mental health
This program offers the multi-part Just Care for Families support to rural parents to reduce problems like unemployment and housing stress so they can avoid opioid use and feel better mentally.
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How family eating and activity habits affect young children's weight
This project looks at whether young children's eating behaviors, activity, and family routines change weight over a year and can lessen genetic risk for obesity in kids ages 5–7 from low-resource families.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.