Current Studies & Findings

This study is testing ways to improve outcomes for families with children born very prematurely. We are studying a web-based educational program and telephone-based coaching on parenting and child behavior for parents of children born preterm who are now 20-30 months old.

To learn more, contact the ezPreemie team: ezPreemieStudy@NationwideChildrens.org

LEAF wants to find out if different things that happen during pregnancy – like stress, smoking, weight gain, medication use, or other lifestyle factors – might affect how preschool-aged children grow and act. We’re hoping results from this study will be able to help lead to better healthcare for children in the future.

Contact us: LEAF@NationwideChildrens.org

Play & Grow wants to learn how children and their parents eat and play together, and how those activities affect child health and development. Children and their families meet with our research team 4 different times over two years, starting when the child is about 18 months old. 

Contact us: PlayandGrow@NationwideChildrens.org

Although at least 1 in 68 U.S. children has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), no approved medications exist to treat the core symptoms. The Omega Heroes team is interested in learning how adding an Omega 3-6 fatty acid nutritional supplement might help children with ASD. Reports have shown that inflammation is common in people with ASD. It is possible that this fatty acid nutrient may help reduce inflammation. The first step is to see if taking these fatty acids can improve signals of inflammation in the blood. If these fatty acids can help reduce inflammation, they may help improve ASD behaviors.

Contact us: KeimTeam@NationwideChildrens.org

Women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus are at a much higher risk of developing type II diabetes (T2DM) later in life. The standard initial treatment to prevent T2DM after pregnancy is weight loss. The goal of Moms in Motion is to test the effects of  incorporating ankle weights into daily activities on weight loss in new moms diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. We are hoping that women wearing ankle weights for 2 hours a day during normal, light intensity activities will result in an increased likelihood of weight loss, crucial in helping prevent later development of type II diabetes.

Contact us: MomsInMotion@NationwideChildrens.org

Participants in the original Omega Tots received a nutritional supplement or placebo powder for 6 months. This study is a brief, 1-time postal survey to learn more about how these children continue to grow and learn.

Contact us: OmegaTots@NationwideChildrens.org

We hoped to determine when and how often obesity develops in early childhood among children born preterm, compared to children born at term, and find the best time to prevent obesity. Our results suggest that several factors, such as child gender and race, whether the mother was obese before pregnancy, and whether or not the mother smokes, contribute to the rise in a child’s body size (BMI) regardless of their birth weight. Monitoring how quickly a child’s body size rises in their first 27 months may be important for low-income families to work on changeable behaviors that contribute to early-onset obesity. Obese children born preterm were also 20% more likely to be undiagnosed compared to obese children born at term. We want to develop evidence-based plans to guide clinicians and families in recognizing and preventing obesity in children.

• Khalsa, A. S., Li, R., Rausch, J., Klebanoff, M. A., Ingol, T. T., Boone, K. M., & Keim, S. A. (2022). Early childhood growth trajectories in a Medicaid population. Pediatric obesity, 17(9), e12918. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12918
• Ingol, T. T., Li, R., Ronau, R., Klebanoff, M. A., Oza-Frank, R., Rausch, J., Boone, K. M., & Keim, S. A. (2021). Underdiagnosis of obesity in pediatric clinical care settings among children born preterm: a retrospective cohort study. International journal of obesity (2005), 45(8), 1717–1727. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00834-1

We wanted to develop better guidance for first-time mothers as they prepare for the arrival of their baby, and better supportive advice in addressing the common challenges that arise after coming home from the hospital. From this study, we have found that some mothers feel pressure to breastfeed from various other people in their lives or from themselves. We also found that body image and obsessive-compulsive symptoms may affect breastfeeding.

• Korth, C. X., Keim, S. A., Crerand, C. E., & Jackson, J. L. (2022). New Mothers' Perceptions of Pressure to Breastfeed.  The American journal of maternal child nursing, 47(3), 160–167.
• Keim, S. A., Jackson, J. L., Litteral, J. L., Schofield, K. A., & Crerand, C. E. (2021). Perceptions About Lactation Consultant Support, Breastfeeding Experiences and Postpartum Psychosocial Outcomes. Maternal and child health journal, 25(3), 497–506. 
• Kapa, H. M., Litteral, J. L., Keim, S. A., Jackson, J. L., Schofield, K. A., & Crerand, C. E. (2022). Body Image Dissatisfaction, Breastfeeding Experiences, and Self-Efficacy in Postpartum Women with and Without Eating Disorder Symptoms. Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association, 8903344221076529. Advance online publication. 

Breastfeeding for as long as you plan to can be difficult. We want to understand what factors might help moms breastfeed for more than a year. This study found that support from family and pediatric care providers was extremely important for mothers who continued to breastfeed beyond infancy.

• Article: Tchaconas, A., Keim, S. A., Heffern, D., & Adesman, A. (2018). Pediatric Care Providers, Family, and Friends as Sources of Breastfeeding Support Beyond Infancy. Breastfeeding Medicine, 13(2), 116-122.
• https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/bfm.2017.0184

Substance abuse epidemics and changes in incarceration and foster care policies have recently placed more young children in grandparent custody. Thus, we wanted to compare grandparent caregivers of preschool-aged children to parent caregivers, by caregiver sex, in their mental health, available emotional support, and capacity to manage parenting demands. We found that caregivers in grandparent-only households had about twice the odds of having a source of emotional support. Grandmothers, in particular, had greater odds of handling day-to-day parenting demands well and of reporting rarely/never feeling angry with the child in their care, compared to mothers in parent households. Despite increasing demands on grandparents, they generally reported faring as well as or better than parent caregivers, especially grandmothers. Their prior experience and social support may make them resilient.

• Keim, S. A., Parrott, A., & Mason, R. E. (2022). Mental health and parenting demands among grandparent caregivers of young U.S. children. Journal of women & aging, 1–12. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2022.2094153

Children born very premature have an increased risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and difficulties with sensory processing. However, providing fatty acid supplements may be an effective intervention, as they are involved in brain development and reduce inflammation. Thus, we explored how providing fatty acid supplements to children born very preterm might benefit growth and development. The Preemie Tots Trial found that many of the children who took the fatty acid supplements showed small-to-medium size improvements in social interaction, and in using gestures to communicate (like pointing to show you something). Children who took a placebo oil did not have these same improvements. We hope to continue exploring how fatty acids may improve child growth and development in future studies.

• Keim, S. A., Gracious, B., Boone, K. M., Klebanoff, M. A., Rogers, L. K., Rausch, J., ... & Rhoda, D. A. (2018). ω-3 and ω-6 Fatty Acid Supplementation May Reduce Autism Symptoms Based on Parent Report in Preterm Toddlers. The Journal of nutrition, 148(2), 227-235.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid that plays important roles in early brain development.  Early evidence has suggested that DHA supplementation can improve global developmental outcomes in preterm infants when started soon after birth. We wanted to see if DHA supplementation could improve developmental outcomes among toddlers born preterm. Participants consumed a DHA (200 mg) with arachidonic acid (AA; 200 mg) supplement or a placebo preparation of corn oil (400 mg). The trial period lasted 180 days. 377 children, and their families, participated. The supplement did not improve cognitive development compared to the placebo. Based on this study, it does not seem warranted to offer DHA supplements to toddlers who were born preterm. It is possible that supplementation has other benefits that this study did not examine.

This study hoped develop and evaluate a short set of questions to capture infant feeding practices. We followed up with previous Moms2Moms study participants to gather more information about these practices. 

• Keim, S. A., Smioth, K., Boone, K. M. & Oza-Frank, R. (2018) . Cognitive Testing of the Brief Breastfeeding and Milk Expression Recall Survey. Breatfeed Med, 13(1), 60-66.