The Feds are forcing taxpayers to fork over nearly $200,000 so researchers in Memphis can analyze whether stress makes kids fat. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, (D-TN-9), announced the money, exactly $189,929, in a press release late last week. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases — part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services — gave the money to the University of Memphis. The formal name of the project is The Impact of Stress and Resilience on Obesity-Related Metabolic Complications in Adolescents. “Childhood obesity is a national epidemic and Tennessee’s childhood obesity rate is a staggering 38 percent,” Cohen said in the release. The national childhood obesity rate is 31 percent. “This award will help researchers at the University of Memphis study youth obesity, its causes, and find solutions on how to reduce it,” Cohen said. More specifically, according to the press release, the grant will fund research to study “the relationship between stress and resilience in youth and how it can lead to childhood obesity.” Cohen defined resilience as how “one adapts to trauma, tragedy, and threats.” Idia Binitie Thurston, the Director of CHANGE Lab at the University of Memphis, will lead the research…
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