Michael Bloom, Associate Professor, Global and Community Health, received $158,900 from the National Institutes of Health for the project: “Impact of Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances on Weight Loss: A Pilot Study of Hispanic Children with Overweight/Obesity Participating in a Community-based Weight Loss Intervention Program.”
In this pilot study, Bloom is evaluating associations between exposures to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and weight lost during a 10-week weight loss intervention among Hispanic children with overweight and obesity. He and his collaborators will quantify the association between 12 different PFAS measured in pre-intervention blood specimens collected from children at baseline and weight lost during the intervention, as well as with clinical biomarkers of metabolism, lipids, and hormones measured in baseline blood specimens. PFAS exposure may increase the risk of overweight/obesity, and this will be the first study to evaluate PFAS exposure as a predictor of weight loss among children with overweight/obesity. The results will help to improve understanding of the impact of PFAS on weight loss in children with overweight/obesity, and will form the basis of a larger and more definitive future study.
This funding began in July 2023 and will end in June 2025.