Dr. Liang Wang in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology received funding for the project titled, “Influence of child care setting on obesity risk among U.S. children.” The setting for child care plays an important role in ensuring children’s wellbeing. Healthy habits learned in that setting may be influential over time, yet limited research has been done on to role of child care setting in preventing obesity.
Dr. Deborah Slawson, Associate Professor and chair in the Department of Community Health at ETSU, is the Co-Investigator, and Dr. Youfa Wang, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University of Buffalo, is the consultant for the study.
The researchers will study the longitudinal relationships of child care setting and obesity risk from childhood to adolescence. The study will examine the influence of child care type (center care, home-based care, and parental care) on adiposity measures and obesity risk (body mass index (BMI) percentile, % overweight and obese).
Furthermore, the researchers aim to study critical phases for obesity risk and accumulation of risk from childhood through adolescence. Additionally, the role of key personal, family, and sociopsychological factors will be investigated in relation to associations between child care setting and obesity risk.
