Kai Ling Kong, PhD, Center for Population Health and Outcomes Research, received a 5-year, $2,635,923 R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for her study “First taste, lasting impact: Early-life exposure to added sugars from infant formula and complementary foods on glucose variability and obesity risk.”
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are major health problems around the world and they may be influenced by nutrition during infancy. Dr. Kong and her research team are trying to understand whether added sugar in baby formula and baby foods affects how a baby's body handles blood sugar, and whether that could lead to faster weight gain and a greater risk of obesity later in life.
Scientists think that some of the risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes may begin very early in life, even during infancy.
Breastfeeding has been shown to help protect babies from developing metabolic problems later on. However, many babies in the United States receive formula during their first six months. Researchers have already found that babies who drink formula with more added sugar tend to gain weight faster as infants and eat more sugary foods later on, but they do not yet know whether those early sugars affect a baby's blood sugar levels in real time.
Dr. Kong and her team will look at glucose variability, meaning how much blood sugar goes up and down throughout the day, in 200 infants who they will start following at three months old. They will investigate whether eating more added sugar as a baby leads to bigger blood sugar swings and if babies with greater glucose variability gain weight faster.
“This directly aligns with the recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiative to review nutrients in infant formula, underscoring the urgent need for stronger oversight and transparency in infant nutrition,” explains Dr. Kong. “Because added sugar is not closely regulated, this study will provide important evidence that could help improve infant formula guidelines.”
Specifically, Dr. Kong received an R01 grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases covering a project period of Aug. 28, 2026-June 30, 2031.
This study is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number 1R01DK149491-01. The total program costs over the five-year award period are $2,635,923, of which $2,635,923 (100%) is financed with Federal funds. No costs are financed by nongovernmental sources.
Co-investigators include Emily Cramer, PhD, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Core, Felicia Steger, PhD, and Dnaiel Tilden, MD, MPH, University of Kansas Medical Center.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.