Released May 20, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The new "Labs in Life" exhibit at COSI, Columbus' Center of Science and Industry, is the nation's first example of an active, working research laboratory in a science museum.
The exhibit, which opened to the public on May 16, features three research labs behind large plate-glass windows that will be used for studies focusing on physical activity, nutrition and body composition. Visitors will see Ohio State University faculty members and students as they conduct studies and gather data. In some cases, visitors will be able to participate in the research themselves.
Labs in Life is possible through a partnership between COSI and Ohio State University's College of Education and Human Ecology. Gail Kaye, director of the Dietetic Internship program in the college's Department of Human Nutrition and nutrition specialist with Ohio State University Extension, is one of the faculty members behind the project. She said she hopes the exhibit will not only increase COSI visitors' understanding of physical activity and nutrition and improve their overall health and well-being, but also improve their knowledge of how research is conducted and be better consumers of research findings.
Much of Kaye's work focuses on prevention of childhood obesity. She recently received an Excellence in Engagement grant from OSU CARES with Maryanna Klatt in the College of Medicine to merge their separate nutrition and activity community-based programs (Food Fit and Move-Into-Learning) into one: "The State of Ohio Gets Fuel for Learning." When the new program is implemented, likely in 2010, the faculty members will conduct in-service trainings at the COSI labs for teachers from rural, suburban and urban school districts.
"We want to focus on what role teachers can play to reinforce healthy behaviors, with the overall goal of reducing childhood obesity," Kaye said. Teachers will leave with a DVD-based eight-week nutrition and fitness program they can conduct daily in their classrooms. OSU Extension educators will follow up with the teachers in their home communities to track resulting behavior changes and encourage other schools to adopt the program.
Kaye hopes to involve more community members in her research and outreach programs and believes the COSI presence will help promote them. "I can imagine a teacher or a leader of an after-school program or someone from a community group come through Labs in Life, find out about the programs we're conducting, and making the connection that perhaps we could work together with them," Kaye said.
Another faculty member involved in Labs in Life, Jackie Buell, will be located at Labs in Life nearly full-time. One of the projects that Buell will be conducting is on bone density of female athletes. Buell, director of Sports Nutrition in the Department of Human Nutrition, said many women runners, in an attempt to lose weight, don't consume enough calories. Instead of building bone mass through their exercise, they lose it. "That's when stress fractures develop," Buell said. In the Bone Density and Body Composition labs at COSI, she will be able to take biometric measurements of participants in her studies to improve the relationship between physical activity and bone health.
In the meantime, Carmen Babcock Swain will be spending most of her time in the Human Performance Lab. The equipment -- including a treadmill, exercise bike and metabolic cart that measures energy expenditure and cardiovascular and respiratory function -- is the type seen in any research or clinical situation. She said more than 50 Ohio State students have already signed up to get involved with Labs in Life this summer, and her graduate students will have the ability to conduct their research in a unique setting. Swain is currently a visiting assistant professor in the college's School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, but as of July 1, she will become director of Health and Exercise Science Laboratories.
One of Swain's studies focuses on children's fitness, and, as long as she has a child's and his or her parents' permission, she will recruit young COSI visitors to participate in the study. In this study, Swain will compare physical activities outlined in the traditional Presidential Fitness Challenge with more technologically advanced activities, on equipment that gives youths direct feedback on their activity and offers them a personalized "exercise prescription" to take home.
"My thinking is that the activities associated with the Presidential Fitness Challenge are out of date and do little to motivate those who participate to continue with physical activity," Swain said. "Is it time for a technological tune-up?" She hopes to find out with this study and is excited about the prospect of engaging so many youths in the research.
"COSI has a million visitors a year," Swain said. "The ability for me to share my research with so many people -- that's pretty cool."
Labs in Life is on COSI's second floor and is part of general admission. For more information, see COSI's Web site at http://www.cosi.org/visitors/exhibits/life/.
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http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=5183
Sources: Gail Kaye, OSU Extension, (614) 292-5512, GKaye@ehe.osu.edu
Jackie Buell, (614) 292-9812, jbuell@ehe.osu.edu
Carmen Swain, (614) 292-5959, swain.78@osu.edu
Contact: Martha Filipic, (614) 292-9833, filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu