L-R: Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Chairman Michael Slater, Newcastle mum Cara Vasilescu and her son Jude Vasilescu, HMRI Director Professor Maree Gleeson, Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Family Health and Wellbeing Scholars Michelle Blumfield and James Bray.

Medical Research Week (June 1-5)

The Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) and the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation will today announce two innovative research projects that aim to tackle childhood obesity.

The Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation will donate $150,000 to HMRI to fund two Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Family Health and Wellbeing PhD Scholars who will design guidelines and strategies for Australian families by studying nutrition in pregnancy, and nutrition and physical activity for families using the after school care setting.

“Obesity is a significant community health problem locally and throughout Australia. More than one quarter of children in the Hunter region are now overweight or obese,” said HMRI Director Professor Maree Gleeson.

“This funding will enable researchers to look at how to prevent obesity in children, starting in pregnancy, and to develop programs to help families where a child is either at risk of unhealthy weight gain or is already overweight.”

Chairman of the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Michael Slater said: “Good nutrition is vital to the growth and development of healthy children. This funding will enable Hunter researchers to develop strategies to help Australian families raise strong, healthy children, laying the groundwork for a healthy adult life.”

The Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation has been a supporter of HMRI previously, having provided funding in 2006 for a landmark pilot study into environmental impacts on female fertility and menopause. This grant enabled the researcher to develop early findings and secure $362,625 in National Health and Medical Research Council funding to continue this promising research.

To discover what mothers should eat to help their unborn child grow and develop in good health, Michelle Blumfield, a PhD Scholar at the University of Newcastle, will collect information from 200 mothers and their toddlers up to the child’s fifth birthday. This project extends the Women and Their Children’s Health (WATCH) Study, a world-first study into nutrition in pregnancy.

The internationally recognised weight management program HIKCUPS will be adapted for families in after school care settings by James Bray, a PhD Scholar from the University of Newcastle. If successful, the program could be rolled out nationally.

HMRI is a partnership between the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and the community.

Vision opportunity (Friday 5^th June, 10.15am for a 10.30am start):A mum and baby taking part in the WATCH study; Researchers with Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation representatives.

Where:  Meet at the information desk inside the foyer of John Hunter Hospital.  

Media contact: Lauren Eyles, HMRI Communications Manager, phone 0434 600 940.