UH Cancer Center researcher awarded $3.1M for pediatric obesity research

John Shepherd

Metabolic diseases such as obesity are the leading causes of deaths among adults, and are increasingly becoming an epidemic in the U.S. A University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center researcher has been awarded $3.1 million from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to further his research efforts to provide new body composition technologies to detect the risks of metabolic consequences of obesity among young children. These include hypertension, type 2 diabetes and premature heart disease.

John Shepherd, in collaboration with partner Steven Heymsfield, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, are working on a study called Shape Up! Keiki (children). This observational study of 360 children, between the ages of birth to five years, will create advanced models of body shape from 3D optical whole-body scans. This study will provide clear descriptions of how body shape and composition are related to metabolic risk factors—high blood pressure, increased cholesterol levels and risk of developing cancer among children of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Through this study, Shepherd hopes to provide newly found health traits in children, including emotional stability and management of stress levels, by studying their body shape and providing tools to visualize and quantify body shape in research and clinical practices.

“Obese adolescents have their most rapid weight gain before the age of five, and are usually already obese by that age. Despite clear connections between obesity and disease risk, pediatric obesity research is limited due to the lack of appropriate body composition technologies,” said Shepherd.

The outcome of the Shape Up! Keiki study will provide descriptions of how the body shape of Hawaiʻi residents varies across their lifespan with technological tools that will be useful to probe the intricate relationships of aging, activity level, diet and genetic associations related to diabetes and fatty liver disease.

In the future, Shepherd hopes this technology will be accessible worldwide through consumer-level gaming and smartphone technologies, which will help parents and pediatricians monitor their children’s health from home.

Link to Grant Information
 

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The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center through its various activities, including scientific research and clinical trials, adds more than $57 million to the Oʻahu economy.  It is one of only 71 research institutions designated by the National Cancer Institute.  An organized research unit within the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the UH Cancer Center is dedicated to eliminating cancer through research, education, patient care and community outreach with an emphasis on the unique ethnic, cultural, and environmental characteristics of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Learn more at https://www.uhcancercenter.org.  Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/UHCancerCenter.  Follow us on Twitter @UHCancerCenter