A collaboration between Vanderbilt University's department of pediatrics and Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation has been awarded a seven-year, $12 million grant by the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute. The researchers will work with hundreds of local families to reduce childhood obesity.

“As a pediatrician, I can see it happening right in front of me. An overweight preschooler is four to five times more likely to stay overweight as an adolescent. And if you stay overweight as an adolescent, there is a 70 percent likelihood you will stay overweight as an adult,” Barkin said.