Mark Feinberg
Pennsylvania State University, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Habits that shape a child's weight begin remarkably early, and how well new parents cooperate with each other may be one of the strongest levers on them. Rapid weight gain in infancy predicts later obesity, and weight that mothers retain after childbirth contributes to obesity passing from one generation to the next.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Psychology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
obesity prevention
childhood obesity
rapid infant weight gain
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Test the efficacy of FF+, an adapted version of the Family Foundations prenatal and postpartum class series, in a randomized trial of 250 first-time-parent military families recruited through obstetric clinics at three Military Health System hospitals.
- Measure program effects on rapid infant weight gain and maternal postpartum weight retention using home visits during pregnancy and at 6 and 12 months postpartum, combined with electronic health record data.
- Test the mediation pathways through which FF+ works, including whether a more cohesive, supportive coparenting relationship explains changes in family lifestyle behaviors and health-promoting parenting.
- Assess whether baseline parent characteristics, fidelity of program delivery, or participant engagement moderate the program's effects on parent and infant outcomes.
More about the research
This project asks whether a parenting-focused prevention program delivered around the time of birth can shift family eating, activity and feeding routines enough to change both outcomes.
Why it matters
Childhood obesity is difficult to reverse once established, so prevention starting in infancy matters. If effective, this program could give obstetric and family medicine clinics a practical, group-based way to slow rapid infant weight gain and reduce postpartum weight retention in mothers. Military families, who face overweight and obesity at rates comparable to civilians, would be the first to benefit, and the approach could be adapted to other health systems.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jigna Dharod
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test whether the SMile intervention, combining cash or breast-pump incentives with peer-counselor home visits, raises breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding for six months among 120 Hispanic WIC mothers in a randomized trial.
Jonathan Purnell
Oregon Health & Science University, OR·Public Health & Epidemiology
Compare birth size for gestational age, infant weight gain and BMI through age six in children of 2,120 women who had bariatric surgery before pregnancy versus 21,200 children of women without surgery, matched on pre-surgery or pre-pregnancy BMI.
Linda May
East Carolina University, NC·Physiology
Determine how aerobic, resistance and combined exercise during pregnancy in women with overweight or obesity affect infant heart and metabolic health and growth patterns, compared with infants of non-exercising mothers.
The school
Pennsylvania State University: 60 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 743 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.