About The Children's Nutrition Research Center
The Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
is one of six federally funded human nutrition research
centers in the nation and the first to conduct scientific
investigations into the role of maternal, infant and
child nutrition in optimal health, development, and
growth.
Operated by Baylor
College of Medicine in cooperation with Texas
Children's Hospital and the Agricultural
Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA/ARS), the CNRC's 11-story research facility
houses a large live-in metabolic
unit, an energy
metabolism laboratory, stable
isotope and substrate analytical laboratories, a
body composition laboratory, an
eating behavior observation laboratory, and a plant
physiology laboratory. These unique facilities
enable the center's 55 full-time faculty members to
develop multidisciplinary research
programs that help improve the nutritional guidelines
used by physicians, parents and others responsible
for the care and feeding of children.
Since its establishment in 1978, over 8,500 volunteers
have participated in Center studies. Center research
has generated more than 1,700 scientific publications
and continues to provide valuable information for improving
the nutritional health of today's children and that
of future generations.
CNRC research
programs are designed to:
- Determine the role of nutrition and specific nutrients
in optimal prenatal development, including which nutrients
consumed by a mother near the time of conception, and
during pregnancy and lactation, positively affect infant
health and the course of human development.
Investigate nutrient-gene interactions to determine
both how gene expression is regulated by dietary nutrients
and how differences in genotype affect the absorption
and utilization of common nutrients by individuals.
Identify the specific nutritional factors necessary
for optimal health, growth, and development of newborn
term and pre-term infants and children of all ages.
Identify regulatory controls of body weight and body
composition during infancy and childhood, and metabolic
and behavioral factors that regulate energy intake,
energy expenditure, appetite, and satiety.
Identify childhood dietary habits that contribute to
long-term health and the prevention of diet-related
chronic diseases in adulthood, including osteoporosis,
obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
and cancer.
Investigate the biochemical regulation of phytonutrients
in plant foods, the importance of specific phytonutrients
in optimal childhood growth and development, and the
bioavailability of minerals, such as iron, zinc and
calcium, from plant sources.
For more information about the Children's Nutrition Research Center follow the links below.
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