CHIL receives $23.7 NIFA grant to prevent young child obesity

The Children's Healthy Living Program for Remote Underserved Minority Populations in the Pacific Region (CHIL) recently received $23.7 in funding from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The CHIL project is a partnership among remote Pacific states and other jurisdictions of the US including: Alaska, American Samoa , Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia, Hawaii, Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. All jurisdictions have US Land Grant Colleges, which have united as the Pacific Land Grant Alliance. The funding will support the CHIL Project for five years beginning in March 2011. Guam's portion of the funding is $2.8 million.

The goal of the CHIL Project is to prevent young child obesity through community-based prevention programs, based on local needs assessments that identify culturally and economically sustainable approaches deemed appropriate for each jurisdiction. The project will also include an education and training component to build our existing pool of experts as a mechanism for preventing child obesity.

The Guam team is made up of faculty from the University of Guam including Rachael Leon Guerrero, Yvette Paulino, Gena Rojas, Bob Barber, Alicia Aguon, and Margaret Hattori-Uchima; along with Clare Camacho from Guam Community College.

"Today marks the beginning of the University of Guam College of Natural and Applied Sciences becoming a major team player on Guam, in our region, and in the US in defining measurable outcomes that will help us understand what it is going to take for a community to prevent young childhood obesity. We obtained these funds after competing with other applicants from across the nation. We are the single National Institute for Food and Agriculture recipient to receive this level of funding," said Dr. Lee S. Yudin, Dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Guam.

Source: University of Guam