Chew Project

Addressing Child Obesity

New Logo

 Funded by AFRI-USDA
Baqar Husaini, Ph.D., Principal Investigator (Tennessee State University)
 Janice Emerson, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator (Tennessee State University)
Pamela Hull, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator (Vanderbilt University) 
Robert Levine, M.D. Co-Principal Investigator (Meharry Medical College)

Nashville CHildren Eating Well (CHEW) for Health was a multi-institutional collaboration among the following academic institutions and community stakeholder organizations: (1) TSU Center for Prevention Research; (2) TSU School of Agriculture Human, and Natural Sciences; (3) Meharry Medical College, Department of Family and Community Medicine; (4) Vanderbilt University, Division of Epidemiology; (5) Metropolitan Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County; (6) Community Food Advocates; (7) Progreso Community Center; and (7) a Community Advisory Board. CHEW was conducted from 2012-2014.

The purpose of Nashville CHEW for Health was to address childhood obesity prevention through research, extension and education.  All of the project activities focused on the USDA’s federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) supplemental nutrition program. The target population was low-income WIC participant families with children ages 2-4, with a particular focus on African American and Hispanic families, and the WIC-authorized grocers that serve this population.  The geographic scope of CHEW activities was urban Nashville/Davidson County, with the potential to be extended in the future across Tennessee and in other states.  We used a multi-level approach to prevent childhood obesity through informal family-based consumer education, improving the food environment (in WIC stores), and developing human capital through formal education programs.