RIING is an acronym for Research to Improve Infant Nutrition and Growth. This US National Institutes of Health funded project is being conducted in Ghana under the leadership of Iowa State University (lead institution) together with the University of Ghana (local lead institution). The principal investigators, however, come from a more varied background. In addition to the University of Ghana and Iowa State University, researchers from the University of Connecticut, Emory University and The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research are involved with the administration of the RIING project.

Other partners of RIING in Ghana include the Ghana Health Services (Nutrition & Reproductive and Child Health units), Manya-Krobo District Director’s Office of Health Services, Atua Hospital, and St. Martins de Porres Hospital, Agormenya.

RIING Project Objectives

The goal of RIING is to employ research and training to create an environment in which infant and child nutrition can be facilitated.

At the end of the five year life span of RIING it is expected that the project will:

• Provide both US-based and in-country training that will enhance the research capabilities of Ghanaian academic/research institutions, with the view to improve local support infrastructure for future training and research in the area of maternal and child nutrition and health.
• Expand research initiatives on infant and young child feeding in Ghana
• Provide specific, practical policy and programmatic recommendations that will improve infant and child nutritional status and health.

The long-range research goal of the RIING project in Ghana is to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve growth among children living in poverty. Primarily, RIING Project in Ghana will seek to:

• Identify factors that alter households’ ability to provide optimal feeding and care-giving for infants
• Develop feeding and care-giving strategies that will support child health and growth and are feasible for all families to carry out.
  
  

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