Maryland School Wellness Partnership - Current Projects
COVID-19 Family Study
- About
- Programs
- Research and Practice
- Life Course Framework
- Child and Adolescent Health
- Maternal, Fetal and Perinatal Health
- Population and Health
- Women's, Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Life Course Framework
- People
- News and Events
- Contact
- Make a Gift
About Us
The COVID-19 Family Study is a four year project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This project works with existing families to learn how COVID-19 policies relate to family routines, children's dietary and physical activity behaviors, and family risk for food insecurity.
This study extends a rapid-response research project from the Spring of 2020 to examine disparities related to the impact of COVID-19 control policies. The COVID-19 Family Study will also evaluate the following:
- The long-term impact of COVID-19 policies on disparities related to children’s health over two years following the start of the pandemic.
- Measures of obesity and an analysis of projected impact on health care costs.
- An explanatory mixed methods approach to understand the mechanisms linking COVID-19 policies and health behaviors.
Specific Aims
- Examine changes over time in child health behaviors (diet, physical activity, and sleep) and obesity/excess weight gain.
- Examine the mechanisms explaining observed changes in child health behaviors and obesity/excess weight gain.
- Determine projected health care costs related to changes in child health behaviors and obesity/excess weight gain due to COVID-19 policies overall and for specific populations, by race/ethnicity, SES, and geographic locale.
The Team
PI: Erin Hager, PhD, Associate Professor
Helina Selam, Quantitative Data Manager
Janny Dihn, Qualitative Data Manager
Rachel Deitch, MS, CHES, Project Coordinator