Kirsten Krahnstoever Davison, a research associate for the department of human development and family studies in the College of Health and Human Development, recently received the Ethan Sims Young Investigator Award from The North American Association for the Study of Obesity.

Davison received the award, which recognizes excellence in research by a young investor, and a $1,000 cash prize during the association's annual conference that took place in Quebec City, Canada, in October.

"Her research on childhood obesity is central to our understanding of how family environmental and genetic factors work together to promote childhood obesity and is critical to the development of effective intervention," Leann Birch, professor and head of the department of human development and family studies, said in a press release.

Davison's work involved identifying families in which children are at high risk of obesity as a result of parents' physical activity and dietary patterns.

Davison's study identified high-risk or "obesigenic" families and then determined whether girls from these families were heavier or gained more weight during a two-year period than girls from low-risk families, according to a press release.

"I noticed in my dissertation work that activity and eating patterns were highly related within families," Davison said in a press release. "Behavioral patterns among parents seemed to group together in families such that they either promoted weight gain or protected from weight gain."

Davison is currently studying the patterns of change in girls' weight through the middle of years of childhood, the influence of obesity on early childhood and early puberty among girls.