2008 Woodie Awards
SENIOR project studies effects of nutrition, exercise on aging population in East Providence
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Campus
2/1/08 - "Did you eat your fruits and vegetables?" is a common nag most children hear. But it's a bit more unusual when that question is from college graduate students to those who are more than three times their age.
The gerontology department at the University of Rhode Island recently received a $1.9 million five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute. The department will use the funds to work with the departments of kinesiology and nutrition and food sciences to develop good eating and exercise habits within the elderly population of East Providence.
"Once you have a sedentary pattern in society, it's harder to break that," Director of the gerontology department and principal investigator of the grant, professor Phillip Clark said.
With the help of graduate students, the departments are continuing what they have dubbed as "The SENIOR Project," with the second half aptly named "The SENIOR Project II." SENIOR, in this case, stands for Study of Exercise and Nutrition In Older Rhode Islanders, according to a press release.
The extension comes on the heels of an initial four-year grant from the Institute for $2.5 million to begin the interdisciplinary study, which was in 1999.
"We've shifted from acquiring healthy behavior to maintaining it," Clark said. "The university has research knowledge and expertise on exercise and diets, and those elements have come together in this interdisciplinary research grant."
Deborah Riebe, the department chair of kinesiology, said she thinks the three departments are a great fit together.
"We can definitely come up with the best intervention possibilities with different types of scientists," she said. "We've worked together for a long time."
The departments obtained their test subjects through the East Providence Department of Senior Services, with the average age of the approximately 1,300 volunteers from the first study as being 74 years old. Clark said the study is planning on recruiting about 600 to 700 volunteers from the initial group for the second half of the study.
The gerontology department at the University of Rhode Island recently received a $1.9 million five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute. The department will use the funds to work with the departments of kinesiology and nutrition and food sciences to develop good eating and exercise habits within the elderly population of East Providence.
"Once you have a sedentary pattern in society, it's harder to break that," Director of the gerontology department and principal investigator of the grant, professor Phillip Clark said.
With the help of graduate students, the departments are continuing what they have dubbed as "The SENIOR Project," with the second half aptly named "The SENIOR Project II." SENIOR, in this case, stands for Study of Exercise and Nutrition In Older Rhode Islanders, according to a press release.
The extension comes on the heels of an initial four-year grant from the Institute for $2.5 million to begin the interdisciplinary study, which was in 1999.
"We've shifted from acquiring healthy behavior to maintaining it," Clark said. "The university has research knowledge and expertise on exercise and diets, and those elements have come together in this interdisciplinary research grant."
Deborah Riebe, the department chair of kinesiology, said she thinks the three departments are a great fit together.
"We can definitely come up with the best intervention possibilities with different types of scientists," she said. "We've worked together for a long time."
The departments obtained their test subjects through the East Providence Department of Senior Services, with the average age of the approximately 1,300 volunteers from the first study as being 74 years old. Clark said the study is planning on recruiting about 600 to 700 volunteers from the initial group for the second half of the study.