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News 2025
UCC study aims to support healthy eating habits among young children
Researchers at the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, UCC are inviting parents and guardians of toddlers to take part in a new nutrition study designed to explore practical strategies to support healthier eating habits in young children.
A recent survey of over 1,000 Irish parents, conducted by UCC researchers, found that many young children are not meeting dietary guidelines, and gaps in parental nutrition knowledge highlight the need for greater supports to promote healthy eating in early childhood.
The NURTURE-DIET Study, led by Dr Elaine McCarthy & Prof Mairead Kiely is a 12-week dietary intervention targeting children aged 24 to 42 months. The study explores practical and sustainable strategies for improving young children’s diets through tailored educational supports and guidance.
Participants will attend two short in-person visits at UCC’s Human Nutrition Studies Unit and engage in brief follow-up phone calls over the course of the study. Families will benefit by receiving tailored nutrition resources that we have developed with the help of families and researchers and a dietary counselling session with a qualified nutritionist.
To help inform the study, the researchers will collect information on the child’s dietary intake, eating behaviours and take height and weight measurements. Findings from this study may support the development of healthy eating resources and inform future dietary policies for this age group.
“We understand how difficult it can be to establish healthy eating patterns in the early years,” said Ben Leen Smith, PhD Student. “This research is designed to offer real-world, evidence-based supports to help parents.”
Participation is voluntary and this study has received full ethical approval from UCC’s Clinical Research Ethics Committee (CREC).
Parents and guardians interested in participating can complete a short screening questionnaire at: tinyurl.com/NurtureDiet
Or contact Ben Leen Smith (nurture-diet@ucc.ie) for more information.
For more on this story contact:
Ben Leen Smith
Email: nurture-diet@ucc.ie
Phone: 086 816 7949
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences
University College Cork