Sept. 3, 2024 | LITTLE ROCK — Researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Louisiana Tech University have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve feeding practices at early childhood care centers in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Dr. Taren Massey-Swindle from UAMS and Dr. Julie Rutledge from Louisiana Tech University will use the funding to address problematic feeding practices found in many early childhood settings. Their previous research revealed that these practices, such as rushing children and pressuring them to eat more, can lead to unhealthy eating habits and long-term food aversions.
The grant, totaling $3,043,419 from the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, will fund a five-year project focusing on “de-implementation” — removing ineffective and harmful feeding practices.
Massey-Swindle, an associate professor in Pediatrics and Family and Preventive Medicine at UAMS, emphasized that the aim is not to criticize early childhood educators but to provide them with better training. She noted, “When I was a child care provider, I encouraged children to finish their plates without understanding the impact of my actions on their eating habits.”
This project is crucial because children in these care settings consume more than 500 meals a year, making it an important opportunity to improve their eating habits.
The study will take place at 80 early childhood care sites in Little Rock and Russellville in Arkansas, as well as Ruston and New Orleans in Louisiana. By the end of the five years, Massey-Swindle and Rutledge hope to determine the effectiveness of various strategies to enhance feeding practices and positively influence children’s dietary behaviors, including their willingness to try new foods and their intake of fruits and vegetables.
Massey-Swindle, now director of the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) Link, expressed her commitment to improving community health. She said, “My passion lies in finding ways to positively impact children’s health. This study will answer important questions about whether changes in feeding practices can have lasting effects.”
To secure the NIH grant, Massey-Swindle leveraged preliminary data from a pilot study funded by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, which tested virtual communication methods for reducing improper feeding practices. Rutledge also received pilot funding from the Lincoln Health Foundation in Louisiana to explore in-person methods. Together, they developed a successful hybrid model combining both approaches.
“The preliminary data we gathered was crucial for our grant application,” Massey-Swindle noted. “Funding from the Translational Research Institute was vital for this process and significantly strengthened our proposal.”
Additionally, Massey-Swindle acknowledged support from the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, which provided funding and resources for grant writing workshops that helped refine the grant application.
UAMS, the state’s only health sciences university, offers a range of medical, nursing, pharmacy, and public health programs. It operates a main campus in Little Rock, a regional campus in Fayetteville, and numerous other facilities across the state. UAMS is also the state’s largest public employer and the only adult Level 1 trauma center in Arkansas.