Professor Receives $3.2 million NIH Grant

august 13, 2013

STRIDE and Kinesiology Professor Todd Hagobian received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an innovative new research study. Hagobian will observe the effects of lifestyle intervention on the male partners of pregnant women who are participants in Suzanne Phelan’s Healthy Beginnings study.

“We don’t really know what happens to the dad and the other family members during pregnancy, but what we think happens is that they gain weight,” Hagobian said.

Phelan’s study observes postpartum weight gain in mothers with and without exposure to an intervention consisting of structured meal plans, behavioral strategies and lifestyle intervention. Hagobian’s study will observe weight gain in the fathers to determine whether there’s a connection between maternal, male partner and infant weight. Hagobian predicts a direct correlation between weight gain in pregnant mothers and weight gain in their male partners. For men with pregnant partners receiving the intervention, Hagobian predicts an additional connection with weight loss.

“What we think is that the dads associated with those moms are actually going to lose weight,” he said.

STRIDE and Cal Poly students will assist Hagobian with his research by conducting data collection and performing data analysis, among other tasks.

“They commit on their own time, and they find the hours to do it. And part of it is that they’re going to be involved in all publications, all presentations. They’re going to be involved in everything and get to see if research is actually something they’d really like to do,” he said.

The study will span five years, following the babies into early childhood. Participants in the study are selected from obstetrics clinics in Templeton, Paso Robles, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo.