A new study looks at why children eat the way they do and how we can improve their acceptance of nutritious foods.

The GAIN research study is currently taking place at CU Anschutz Medical Campus in the Children’s Eating Lab, affiliated with Children’s Hospital. This study looks at infants’ and toddlers’ acceptance of a nut butter that has been designed specifically to support their growth and development.

Researchers are inviting parents and their children to participate in the study! To participate, your child must be between 7-24 months, must have been born to term, and must NOT have any allergies or medical conditions. The child’s primary caregiver must be between 18 and 50 years old and must live within 75 miles of the CU Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.

Participants will also be compensated for their time!

Study details:

The GAIN study consists of two scheduled campus visits where you and your child will come to the Children’s Eating Lab on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus for a one-hour visit. During the first lab visit, you will offer a food to your child. We have two versions of this food, each of which is a mixture of a nut butter and infant oatmeal. Once your child has tasted the food, we will give you the opportunity to try it as well. After the feeding, we will take height and weight measurements for both you and your child.

At the end of the first visit, we will send home 10 pre-weighed servings of oatmeal, 10 packets of the nut butter, and instructions for how to offer the food to your child over a two-week period at home. We will also schedule a second lab visit for you to return to The Children’s Eating Lab. The second lab visit will be very similar to the first visit, with the addition of a short interview at the end. The questions will focus on your experience feeding the provided food to your child at home.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Abigail Flesher at abigail.flesher@ucdenver.edu or (303) 724-2922.

Click the image below to view the flyer for the study: