UAMS Receives $3 Million NIH Grant to Address Feeding Practices at Early Child Care Sites

By David Robinson

LITTLE ROCK — University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher Taren Massey-Swindle, Ph.D., and a Louisiana Tech University collaborator have secured a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to address feeding practices at 80 early childhood care and education sites in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Massey-Swindle and Julie Rutledge, Ph.D., from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, found in prior studies that early childhood care and education settings frequently use inappropriate feeding practices such as hurrying children and encouraging them to eat more. Such practices contribute to eating less healthy foods, overeating and long-term food rejections.

A big part of the five-year, $3,043,419 grant from the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is its “de-implementation” plans for eliminating inappropriate feeding practices.

UAMS Receives $3 Million NIH Grant to Address Feeding Practices at Early Child Care Sites

UAMS' Taren Massey-Swindle, Ph.D. (right), with her collaborator, Julie Rutledge, Ph.D., from Louisiana Tech University.