A unique, child-focused exercise lab unveiled at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center (ACNC) will help its world-renowned scientists learn more about preventing disease in families around the globe.
The Laboratory for Active Kids & Families is only the second of its kind in the nation, housed at ACNC on the Arkansas Children's campus. Researchers will use the facility to better understand the science of exercise, and the mechanisms by which physical activity promotes health, by observing children and pregnant mothers in fitness and physiology tests.
"We know that nearly 35 percent of all adults and 17 percent of all children in the United States are obese, and the rates are higher here in Arkansas," said Sean Adams, PhD, director of the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center and UAMS Professor of Pediatrics. "The discoveries that spring from this unique lab will position us to support science-based efforts to combat obesity and the diseases stemming from sedentary behavior."
For nearly a quarter of a century, Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center has studied how to keep children healthy, yielding discoveries on how breast milk benefits newborns' brains, and how maternal obesity can promote childhood obesity.
"Each child represents 100 percent of the future of our state," said Arkansas Children's Senior Vice President & Chief Research Officer Gregory Kearns, PharmD, PhD, FCP, FAAP, who also serves as president of the Arkansas Children's Research Institute (ACRI). "ACNC's next chapter in studying the science of fitness speaks directly to the institutional mission of keeping children healthier tomorrow. In addition to our newly NIH-funded obesity prevention program, this unique laboratory will make a real mark in attacking pediatric obesity in Arkansas in a measurable and definite way."
The United States Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service (USDA-ARS) recently awarded ACNC $7.3 million in annual appropriations, which covers operations for the center, including the creation of the new exercise physiology lab.
The goal of the 65-plus faculty, staff, students, and post-doctoral fellows at ACNC is to conduct cutting-edge research to understand how maternal-child health, nutrition, and physical activity optimize health and development.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, pictured here, and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin were on hand for the unveiling of the lab, which aligns with the governor's Healthy Active Arkansas plan to emphasize physical activity by examining how children live, learn, and play.
"When we hear the treadmills whirring and kids jumping, we'll know that's the sound of science right here in the Laboratory for Active Kids & Families," Adams said. "We're proud to be part of a grander mission at Arkansas Children’s that focuses on the health side of the coin for kids."