Over the past 30 years, the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center has contributed to maternal and child health in many ways, including leveraging diverse sources of federal funding to support their mission by using state-of-the-art procedures, equipment, facilities, and approaches that span basic, pre-clinical, clinical, and community and implementation research. Such approaches ensure that scientific advances are accelerated into community or clinical care settings to impact all children.
Landmark studies have provided the following:
Providing the Reference
Critical normative data on brain development and function providing necessary reference ranges for future studies and clinical applications
Infant Feeding Practices
Clear understanding of differences in the growth and development of children fed human milk compared to children fed infant formula
The Role of Breastmilk
Improved understanding of the beneficial role of human milk feeding by using refined and precise methodologies
The First 1000 Days
Pathways to understand programming of health during the first 1000 days of life
Strategies for Better Health
Strategies for women with excessive weight to experience healthy pregnancy, lactation, and long-term health
The Role of Physical Activity
Enhanced understanding of how maternal and childhood physical activity can disrupt unhealthy trajectories and facilitate health
Integrate Discoveries into Communities
Translation of results into community programs to rapidly integrate discoveries into communities and clinical practices.
Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center strives to improve children’s health, in Arkansas and beyond