Improving healthy eating and obesity prevention in early childcare
Official title: Testing an Adaptive Implementation Strategy to Optimize Delivery of Obesity Prevention Practices in Early Care and Education Settings
Funded at Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis · NIH-11195551 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tries a stepwise approach to help childcare centers use a proven healthy-eating program so young children eat better and keep a healthier weight.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Little Rock, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2021 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $617,778 |
| NIH project number | 5R37CA252113-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195551 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are families with children enrolled in participating early care and education centers and the educators and staff at those centers.
✕Less likely to help
Children not enrolled in participating childcare settings or adults outside those ECE programs would not receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
As a parent, this project focuses on getting preschools and daycare centers to use a program called WISE that helps kids try and enjoy fruits and vegetables. WISE includes hands-on exposures to produce, educator role modeling, positive feeding practices, and a friendly mascot. The team will start with light-touch support for centers and add more intensive help only at sites that need it, while tracking how well centers adopt and maintain the practices. They will also compare costs and look at the reasons why some strategies work better than others.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more childcare centers could deliver practical healthy-eating practices that help young children build better diets and reduce long-term obesity and cancer risk.
How similar studies have gone: The WISE program has improved children's diets in prior work, but using an adaptive, stepped approach to tailor implementation support to each site is a newer strategy.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis
Little Rock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Swindle, Taren — Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis
- Study coordinator: Swindle, Taren
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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.