Research Focus and Goals | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

Infant on the scale of the Pea Pod machine.

We are a college-wide research center created to catalyze innovative, interdisciplinary research on individualized, adaptive interventions focused on preventing obesity in children, beginning in the first years of life.

CCOR's Focus

Promote breastfeeding
Improve diet quality of infants and toddlers
Promote responsive parenting and optimize primary prevention of early pediatric obesity
Teach parents to identify hunger and satiety cues
Promote self-regulation of appetite among infants and toddlers
Teach parents when and how to introduce solid foods to children
Increase children’s preferences for and intake of vegetables, fruits and calcium-rich foods
Investigate genetic susceptibility to obesity
Explore the microbiome as an environmental factor associated with the pathophysiology of obesity
Evaluate parenting similarities and differences among second born siblings
Build optimized interventions using control systems engineering
Incorporate e-health technology to build effective behavioral interventions
Collect measures of fetal growth using ultrasound technology to explore how changes in fetal growth respond to changes in the intrauterine environment (maternal eating and physical activity)
Utilize health information technology to coordinate care across settings
Use body composition assessments to examine body fat accretion during early life

CCOR's Goals

Conduct research that will serve as the evidence base for developing successful interventions to prevent maternal and childhood obesity
Enhance collaborations within the Penn State University community on projects related to childhood obesity
Develop collaborations with public health professionals and Pennsylvania communities in the design and implementation of childhood obesity interventions
Centralize efforts to obtain research funding from foundations, industry and federal agencies for childhood obesity research