HJAR Mar/Apr 2020

50 MAR / APR 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S HEALTH COLUMN CHILDREN’S HEALTH GLOWING is a research program dedi- cated to examining the effects of prenatal and postnatal nutrition on anthropomet- rics, body composition, metabolism, and physical activity of infants and children. The main focus of the research is investi- gating how nutrition can influence a child’s growth and development during a very critical period—the first 1,000 days of life, which includes prenatal and postnatal pe- riods. Maternal health, body composition, and nutrition are important factors that can influence fetal and neonatal development. In addition, early infant nutrition, growth, and body composition may also have short- and long-term consequences to a child’s growth and development. Our lab- oratory collaborates with multiple other laboratories at Arkansas Children’s Nutri- tion Center and other institutions to tackle these complex questions using multi-dis- ciplinary approaches. Glowing Study Insights One hundred and ninety-five partici- pants completed the journey through two years of age, and we are inviting them to come back at ages five and eight to see how much they have grown. We learned a lot through Glowing, and below is a quick summary of 17 publica- tions that have come from the study so far, with many more to come. They are listed as they were published, with the first being the most recently accepted paper. 1. The study helped us understand that there is a difference between the effect of mom’s and dad’s weight on their chil- dren. The higher the mother’s weight, the more body fat boys and girls had at two weeks of age. But, the higher the father’s weight, the lower the fat was in two week old boys 1 . 2. The oral glucose tolerance test helped us understand that early pregnancy weight status was a better predictor of blood sugar control in late pregnancy than how much protein pregnant mothers eat 2 . We also learned that sugar control at the third trimester is related to total and abdominal newborn fat. We can now think of designing interventions targeting mother’s sugar control to de- termine if this influences newborn fat 3 . 3. The weight gain recommendations for The Glowing Pregnancy Research study began enrolling participants in 2010 through the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC). When it began, the ACNC invited 320 women who were less than 10 weeks pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant to participate, and followed them throughout their pregnancies, and the first two years of their kids’ lives. Glowing Pregnancy Research STUDY INSIGHTS

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