UNC News Service

CHAPEL HILL — Eric Hodges, an assistant professor at the UNC School of Nursing, has won a $350,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct research on childhood obesity risks and how parental feeding patterns influence infant and child eating patterns later in life.

Hodges is one of 15 nurse educators nationally to receive the competitive three-year “Nurse Faculty Scholar” award this year. It is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing. The grant period begins this month.

“The generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will enable me to help provide a window into childhood obesity, and whether there are preventative measures we can take early on to keep children healthy,” Hodges said.

For his research, Hodges will expand upon a previous study of first-time mothers examining maternal feeding patterns. He will reconnect with participants in the initial study and through a combination of home visits and data collection, examine what, if any, patterns emerge between childhood obesity and early feeding habits. Hodges will focus on environmental and social factors that may contribute to obesity. Study participants are primarily located in Durham and Orange counties.

UNC faculty members Margaret Miles and Margaret Bentley will serve as Hodges’ mentors.

“Hodges’ research on early feeding patterns and childhood obesity presents an opportunity to apply preventative measures in an epidemic that is quickly spiraling out of control in this country,” Miles said. “His work will contribute a great deal to this area of concern for so many parents and families.”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Nurse Faculty Scholar” award aims to strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools by developing the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing.

Supporting junior nurse faculty is designed to help curb a severe shortage of nurse educators. Many nursing schools lack the resources needed to hire and support enough faculty to train the next generation of nurses. As a result, nursing schools are turning away thousands of qualified applicants. As the supply of nurses shrinks and the demand for their services grows, patient care is at risk of declining.

The Foundation’s “Nurse Faculty Scholars” program provides talented junior faculty with salary and research support as well as the chance to participate in institutional and national mentoring activities, leadership training, and networking events with colleagues in nursing and other fields, while continuing to teach and provide institutional, professional and community service in their universities.

The program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered through the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.