LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center has received a $13.8 million grant to help fight childhood obesity among minorities and those in rural communities. Associate Professor Amanda Staiano said the grant will allow them to find the best approach to deliver their 26-hour evidence-based obesity program.
“We’re comparing different lengths of the intervention to see if could we get the same effect and still help families to lose weight or could they do it in a shorter time period,” said Staiano.
Staiano said participants will be under the guidance of their physician and have access to a nutritionist. And while they recognize the program isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, a social worker is also assigned to the family…
“To help the family, maybe they’re struggling to make ends meet, maybe they’re struggling to find healthy foods. So that social worker is really going to help them get down to the nitty-gritty and make sure they get the resources they need,” said Staiano.
The outreach study among minority children and those in rural backgrounds is in conjunction with Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Staiano said both Louisiana and Tennessee have similar obesity rates, especially among minorities and children in rural areas.
“Families that are often not represented in the clinical trials research, we’re going to really focus on making sure that they’re involved because we want to see if this program working for them, does it need to be tailored for these different groups of families,” said Staiano.
In the US about 22% of Hispanic and 20% of Black children have obesity compared to 14% of white children. In rural areas, the childhood obesity rate increases to 22%.
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