Investigating how different environments affect eating and activity behaviors in mid-life.
Official title: A Dynamic Environmental Exposure Approach to Study Behaviors in Mid-Life
Funded at University of Illinois at Chicago · NIH-10872991 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study looks at how different places you spend time in can affect your eating and exercise habits as you reach middle age, helping to find out what encourages healthy choices and what doesn’t.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Illinois at Chicago NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 15, 2019 |
| Project end | May 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2024 |
| Award (this year) | $634,039 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG062180-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-10872991 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research are mid-life adults, particularly those aged 40-65, who may be experiencing challenges with diet and physical activity.
✕Less likely to help
Patients outside the mid-life age range or those with stable, healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research explores how various environments influence dietary and physical activity behaviors in mid-life individuals, a critical period for health. By examining not just residential neighborhoods but also the broader activity spaces where people spend their time, the study aims to identify factors that encourage healthy or unhealthy behaviors. The researchers will utilize Temporal Self-Regulation Theory to analyze how these environmental exposures impact individuals' choices and behaviors over time. This comprehensive approach seeks to provide a clearer understanding of the relationship between environment and health behaviors.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could lead to targeted interventions that promote healthier eating and physical activity habits in mid-life individuals, potentially reducing obesity and chronic disease rates.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research has shown that environmental factors significantly influence health behaviors, but this study aims to provide a novel perspective by focusing on activity spaces rather than just residential neighborhoods.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tintle, Nathan L — University of Illinois at Chicago
- Study coordinator: Tintle, Nathan L
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Prenatal and early-life chemical exposures linked to faster cellular aging in children and adolescents
Researchers will look at whether prenatal and early-life mixtures of chemicals and factors like diet and obesity speed up cellular aging in children and teens.
-
Heart organoids reveal how environmental chemicals affect heart function
A small research project uses lab-grown human heart tissue to study how environmental chemicals may change heart biology and function, aiming to identify early signs of heart problems.
-
Environmental exposures and inflammation in blood stem cells
Many people exposed to pollution and environmental disasters may develop blood disorders due to inflammation and DNA changes in blood stem cells.
-
Multimethod detection of brain micro- and nanoplastics in Alzheimer’s disease
Researchers will look for tiny plastic particles in human brains and see how they relate to Alzheimer’s disease and neighborhood-level environmental risk.
-
ECHO Measurement Core: Tools to track environmental exposures and child health
A large NIH project at Northwestern builds better, culturally sensitive measurements to understand how early environmental exposures affect child health and development.
-
S3E: A kid-friendly game to learn about indoor environmental health
A mobile game helps middle-schoolers learn about everyday indoor environmental exposures and how to reduce health risks like asthma and lead poisoning.
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.