Sunday, July 13, 2025 7/13/2025

Phenotypic and metabolic characteristics in early childhood leading to obesity

Award Number: R01DK107516
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2016
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2023

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Phenotypic and metabolic characteristics in early childhood leading to obesity - DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23.8 percent of children age 2 to 5 years are overweight and 11.1 percent are obese. Studies have demonstrated that children who become obese as early as age 2 years are more likely to be obese as adults. Accordingly, 1 in 4 children is at risk for developing obesity later in life in the United States. Weight velocity during infancy has been associated with later risk of obesity in numerous studies. However, most studies have reported on anthropometric rather than body fat mass measures. It is unknown which patterns of fat mass and fat free mass accretion during the first two years of life yield obesity development. Similarly, very few studies have investigated fat mass distribution in infants and children especially during a period of rapid growth and increased energy needs. Our preliminary analyses suggest that while maternal BMI and energy intake contribute to the association between weight velocity and overweight/obese status at age 2 years, there are likely other factors that lead to greater weight velocity in infany. We postulate that weight velocity is also driven by a shift in metabolism such that infants who will become overweight or obese develop an energy sparing phenotype leading to greater weight gain compared to infants who remain normal weight during childhood. Therefore they are more efficient at storing excess calories leading to increased accumulation of fat mass. Though this has not been studied in humans and no data exist to suggest how this might influence various fat depots, this energy sparing phenotype is supported by animal models demonstrating that maternal obesity programs offspring metabolism in utero resulting in decreased energy expenditure and fatty acid oxidation rates. The objective of this application is to address these gaps in knowledge by measuring energy intake, total energy expenditure rates, fatty acid oxidation rates, and fat mass accretion and distribution of infants and children during the first two years of life while controlling for important confounding factors. We will test the hypothesis that excessive weight gain during infancy is driven by both greater energy intake and lower energy expenditure and fatty acid oxidation rates, resulting in greater fat mass accretion. The first aim will determine the associations between weight velocity, energy intake and energy expenditure of infants and children at age 6, 12 and 24 months. For this aim, total energy expenditure will be evaluated using doubly-labelled water. The second aim will determine the associations between weight velocity and fatty acid oxidation of infants and children using stable isotope techniques at age 6, 12 and 24 months. The third aim will evaluate fat mass accretion and distribution in infants and children during the first two years of life using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance techniques.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = -$23,953 )
2024	2020	ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDREN'S WAY	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	5	2/13/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$23,953
														Subtotal = -$23,953

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2022	2020	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	5	7/29/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $301,725 )
2020	2020	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	5	7/2/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$301,725
														Subtotal = $301,725

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $301,725 )
2019	2019	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	4	8/9/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$301,725
														Subtotal = $301,725

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $335,250 )
2018	2018	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	3	8/16/2018	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$335,250
														Subtotal = $335,250

Issue Date FY: 2017 ( Subtotal = $444,548 )
2017	2017	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	001	2	8/28/2017	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$335,250
2017	2016	AR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE	13 CHILDRENS WAY STE 842	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	1	2/14/2017	NEW	$109,298
														Subtotal = $444,548

Issue Date FY: 2016 ( Subtotal = $335,250 )
2016	2016	ARKANSAS CHILDREN`S HOSPITAL RES, CTR, INC	800 MARSHALL STREET	LITTLE ROCK	AR	72202	PULASKI	USA	Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research	000	1	3/7/2016	NEW	$335,250
														Subtotal = $335,250

Grand Total All Awards = $1,694,545

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Phenotypic and metabolic characteristics in early childhood leading to obesity

Award Number: R01DK107516

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES & DIGESTIVE & KIDNEY DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2016

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2023

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer