University of Newcastle researchers will develop a significant scale-up of a program to educate families about child feeding and nutrition thanks to a $417,000 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) / e-ASIA Joint Research Program Grant.
The collaborative project involves the University and two non-profit organisations: Helen Keller International in Cambodia and Catholic Relief Services in Laos.
The grant will support the expansion of the Parents Informing Child Nutrition in Community (PICNIC) project, which is run on the Mid North Coast, Central Coast and in Western NSW.
It is a free feeding program available to parents and carers of infants and children aged 0-6 years. The current program includes group online sessions with dietitians, personalised dietitian support and website and social media resources and support.
University of Newcastle Senior Research Fellow Dr Kerith Duncanson of HMRI's Immune Health program and Mr Richard Ball, founder and manager of the PICNIC project, will build on this initiative. They will create 10 self-directed learning modules for parents about responsive child feeding to expand PICNIC's reach in other areas of Australia.
The concept will later be shared through child feeding programs in Cambodia and Laos to tackle nutrient deficiencies and poor diet variety.
