HONOLULU — University of Hawaii Cancer Center researcher John Shepherd was recently awarded $3.1 million from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to explore body composition technologies that will detect health outcomes of obesity among young children.

What You Need To Know

  • UH Cancer Center seeks children from age 0 to 5 years old to participate in the Shape Up! Keiki study

  • By participating, parents can learn about their child’s health while helping researchers build pediatric obesity research and create body composition technologies

  • For information, visit the Shape Up! website or contact the study team at 808-440-5234 or email bodycompstudies@cc.hawaii.edu

According to a UH Manoa news release, obese adolescents gain the most weight before the age of 5 and are usually obese by that age. The need for more pediatric obesity research and the lack of body composition technologies spurred the award to the UH Cancer Center, one of only 71 research institutions designated by the National Cancer Institute.

Shepherd’s team hopes to recruit 360 children from age 0 to 5 years old for the study through its Shape Up! Keiki research study that will enable them to create advanced body shape models using 3D scans.

The scans will provide detailed information regarding how body shape and composition are related to obesity-related risk factors, including high blood pressure, increased cholesterol levels and risk for developing cancer among children in Hawaii and the Pacific, according to the release.

“The inclusion of our diverse population in Hawaii for this specific study will help us to more fully understand the extent of health inequities and the mechanisms in which to address them,” Shepherd said.

According to recent research, intervention needs to be administered in early childhood to prevent obesity and metabolic diseases later in life. The Shape Up! Keiki study will provide the opportunity to examine innovative technologies to assess and understand the risk factors of metabolic diseases.

Parents who would like to learn more about the study and how participation can help them learn about their keiki’s health while helping researchers build new technologies can visit the Shape Up! Keiki study website. FAQs and sign up are also available on the site.

Parents can also contact the study team at 808-440-5234 or email bodycompstudies@cc.hawaii.edu.

Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii.