A West Virginia University researcher is searching for the origins of obesity in West Virginia children. Cindy Fitch, an assistant professor of human nutrition and foods in WVU s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, will work with WVU Extension to examine the relationship between the dietary patterns of preschool children and their body mass index.

Body mass index (BMI) is a way to assess weight for height that helps determine whether an individual is at an average weight, at risk for being overweight, or is overweight by comparing an individual BMI to national standards. Fitch will be working with Extension personnel in Mercer and McDowell counties.

Researchers will interview parents and children, take BMI information, and conduct interviews on dietary habits.

“In addition to examining the relationship between diet and BMI , we will be looking at family characteristics that influence the diets of preschool children,”Fitch said. Some of those characteristics may be how much the mother knows about nutrition, how strictly parents try to control their child’s intake, the parents’BMIs, and whether or not the household always has enough food for everyone, an issue known as”food security.”

“We hope to use this information to help the Extension Service Family Nutrition Program design and implement effective education program for limited-resource families in the area,”Fitch said. Once that end is accomplished, the research team plans to examine some of the over-arching issues involved.

“We expect to use the information as preliminary data to serve as the basis for a larger study to find ways to prevent excessive weight gain in West Virginias children,”Fitch said.”So far, we have not been very effective at treating obesity. It is imperative that we find ways to prevent it.”

The project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.