| | Project: A Feasibility Study of Nutrition Education Intervention in Food Stores Serving the Low Income | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $100,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To develop a methodology to evaluate a food-store-based nutrition intervention program for low-income consumers. The intervention will increase the availability of healthful food choices in participating stores and promote those foods at the point of purchase. The feasibility study will develop and field test reliable and valid methods for assessing program impacts on food store sales, as well as relevant consumer attitudes and behaviors. In addition, the project will assess the costs and benefits of running the program for the stores involved. More... |
| | Project: A Study of the Emergency Food Assistance System: Provider and Recipient Characteristics | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $1,493,061 fiscal 2000: $1,577,357 fiscal 2001: $98,022 fiscal 2002: $60,345 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify the characteristics, operating structure, and service areas of food banks, food pantries, and emergency kitchens and to provide national estimates of the total number of recipients served and the total quantity and type of food by source. An amendment to an existing contract was made to support additional data collection. More... |
| | Project: Access to Healthy Foods: The Role of Market Competition, WIC Policy, and Vendor Attitudes | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $229,611 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine how market factors, the 2007 revisions in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages, and food vendor attitudes influence access to affordable healthy foods by low-income families in Connecticut. In addition, administrative data will be used to monitor changes in the number, type, and location of WIC-authorized vendors throughout the State of Connecticut following the implementation of the WIC food package revisions. More... |
| | Project: Altering Social and Convenience Costs To Improve Students Lunch Choices | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the effectiveness of several behavioral economic and food psychology concepts in encouraging healthier food choices. Three experiments will be conducted. The first will examine the possibility of stigmatizing less healthy food choices or imposing status on healthier food choices through “branding” (such as labeling lighter options “Fresh Bites”). The second will examine whether inconvenience can be used to discourage the purchase of less healthy items without decreasing student satisfaction or reducing cafeteria revenue. The third will examine whether pre-commitment leads to less impulsive, and perhaps healthier, food choices. More... |
| | Project: American Indian Studies Program, University of Arizona | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $246,224 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $150,000 fiscal 2001: $178,796 fiscal 2002: $179,718 fiscal 2003: $178,915 fiscal 2004: $180,367 fiscal 2005: $210,304 fiscal 2006: $179,466 fiscal 2007: $179,802 fiscal 2008: $179,565 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The University of Arizona American Indian Studies Program is working with scholars at tribal colleges and elsewhere to support research addressing the unique position and problems of Native Americans with respect to food assistance. Their small grants program focuses on the relationship between food assistance programs on reservations and family poverty. More... |
| | Project: An Analysis of Poverty Dynamics and Food Security | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $30,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the dynamics of income and food security and to break down the sources of income dynamics into those associated with demographic changes, wage changes, and employment changes. More... |
| | Project: An Assessment of the Impact of Medicaid Managed Care on WIC Program Coordination with Primary Care Services | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $291,052 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify and examine State-level efforts to support coordination between WIC programs and primary care services that are provided through Medicaid managed care models. More... |
| | Project: An Evaluation of the USDA’s Healthy Eating Index | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $35,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine whether the predictive performance of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) could be improved by modifying its construction. Two recent studies have shown that the HEI does moderately well in predicting cardiovascular disease but not cancer or overall mortality. More... |
| | Project: An Examination of the Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $120,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the causal relationship between Food Stamp Program participation and the prevalence of obesity by applying advanced econometric techniques to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Special attention will be given to control for the potential bias from unobserved heterogeneity among the characteristics of program participants and nonparticipants. More... |
| | Project: Analysis of Census 2000 Supplementary Survey Data | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $50,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the reasons for the large disparity between the count of Food Stamp Program recipients in the Maryland administrative records and the number of recipients estimated from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey and from estimates from the 2000 American Community Survey for Calvert County. More... |
| | Project: Analysis of Data from the 1998 and 1999 Food Security Supplements to the Current Population Survey | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $236,859 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To analyze for the 1995-99 period the extent of food insecurity and hunger in the United States, using data collected in the Food Security Supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Census Bureau. More... |
| | Project: Analyzing the Welfare and Nutritional Effects of Food Taxes Intended to Promote Healthful Eating Habits | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $25,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To estimate the effects of proposed health-promoting food taxes and subsidies, this study will estimate the relationships between purchases of beverages and dairy products and the prices households pay to purchase them. More... |
| | Project: Assessing Alternative Policies for Improving the School Food Environment | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine outcomes associated with State policies governing the school food environment using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Several States have enacted policies that limit foods and beverages sold at schools in competition with USDA school meal programs, as a means of reducing childhood obesity and improving students’ diets. Such policies provide an opportunity to conduct a natural experiment of the effectiveness of such measures. Relevant outcomes include the types of food and beverages purchased at school, frequency of consumption for certain foods and beverages, participation in school meal programs, and child weight status. More... |
| | Project: Assessing Effects of Food Stamps on Child Outcomes When Program Participation is Misreported | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $140,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To investigate problems of identifying Food Stamp Program effects on outcomes when households do not accurately report program participation. Analyses of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) data will be undertaken to determine the extent of the identification problem for different levels of misreporting of Food Stamp Program participation. A large range of child nutrition-related outcomes, including diet quality and anthropometric indicators, will be investigated. More... |
| | Project: Assessing the Feasibility of International Anthropometric References for School-aged Preadolescents | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $50,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support for assessing the desirability and feasibility of developing international anthropometric references for school-aged preadolescents that would prescribe optimal growth in children rather than describe how they actually grow under current conditions. More... |
| | Project: Assessing the Nutrient Intakes of High-Needs Subgroups Using the Dietary Reference Intakes | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $247,976 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To use the Dietary Reference Intakes for a comprehensive assessment of the nutrient adequacy of the diets of high-needs subgroups: teenage females; elderly people; overweight and obese children and adults; individuals living in food-insecure households, low-income individuals; and individuals participating in food and nutrition assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Assessment of Computer Matching in the Food Stamp Program | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $342,269 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how States are currently using or planning to use computer-matching strategies to reduce fraud and abuse in their food stamp and other assistance programs. By collecting and disseminating information on computer matching, this project will help States improve program integrity and support FNS oversight to ensure that States manage the FSP as efficiently as possible. More... |
| | Project: Association Between Prenatal WIC Exposure and Maternal Behavior, Health, and Birth Outcomes | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $180,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the effect of prenatal participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC) on a wide range of outcomes, including fetal growth, smoking and drinking during pregnancy, smoking cessation, greater prenatal care, maternal weight gain, anemia, multivitamin consumption, and breastfeeding. The study will use data from nine States participating in the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System (PNSS). More... |
| | Project: Basic Needs, Tough Choices: The Impact of Housing Costs on Food Consumption | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $100,318 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the effects of housing costs on food consumption for low-income households. The tradeoff that low-income households make between housing, which accounts for the largest share of their budget, and food consumption has received little research attention. Food Stamp Program regulations adjust benefits for excess housing costs. The study will merge data on local housing market conditions with data from the 1998 Current Population Survey's Food Security Supplement to examine for low-income households how housing affordability affects two outcome variables: food expenditures and food security. More... |
| | Project: Best Practices Roundtable on Addressing the Needs of Low-Income Working Families | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $25,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To support the first stage of an interagency effort for improving access to work support mechanisms, including food stamps, for low-income families. A series of roundtables will help identify State and local strategies for future demonstration and evaluation. More... |
| | Project: CACFP Administrative Cost Reimbursement Study | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $554,909 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine USDA's reimbursement of administrative costs incurred by sponsors of family child care homes that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The project will examine the sponsors’ budgets and reimbursements, investigate benchmarks for wages and other costs, and review alternative reimbursement systems. More... |
| | Project: Causes and Consequences of Food Insufficiency After Welfare Reform | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $200,354 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the experiences of single mothers and their children in the era since welfare reform. The study focuses on such outcomes as food insufficiency and maternal and child health, and relates them to maternal work histories and welfare and food stamp participation. More... |
| | Project: Changes in the Characteristics of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) Population Under Welfare Reform | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $127,383 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This study learns how characteristics of the food stamp population have changed under welfare reform by examining the characteristics of Food Stamp Program (FSP) participants before and after different State welfare reform policies were implemented. Specific topics to be considered include: impacts on the proportion of cases with earnings, Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents exemptions, incentives for marriage and savings, intensity of welfare-to-work emphasis, earned income disregards, and time limits. More... |
| | Project: Child Nutrition Analysis Project (CNAP) | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $460,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct research and analysis of USDA’s child nutrition programs to support program and policy decisions, including research on (1) food and nutrient intake of school-age children, and (2) the contribution of child nutrition programs to food and nutrient intake. More... |
| | Project: Children’s Food Security and Intakes from School Meals | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $200,406 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the reliance of children from food-insecure households on USDA’s school meals programs to meet their nutrition needs compared with children from food-secure households. Children’s intakes of nutrients, food groups, and calories will be examined using data from USDA’s School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study-III (SNDA-III). More... |
| | Project: Committee on National Statistics | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $26,200 fiscal 2000: $26,200 fiscal 2001: $26,200 fiscal 2002: $26,200 fiscal 2003: $26,200 fiscal 2004: $26,200 fiscal 2005: $26,000 fiscal 2006: $26,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide core funding for the Committee on National Statistics for such activities as a review of the 2000 Census, poverty estimates for small areas, measuring the effects of social welfare reform, cost-of-living indexes, performance measures for public health programs, the use of statistical formulas in legislation for fund allocation, confidentiality and data access, and other issues. More... |
| | Project: Commodity Supplemental Food Program: Participation and Administration | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $210,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how USDA’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) fits into States’ overall designs to address food insecurity among target populations; who participates among populations eligible for CSFP and other food assistance programs; how States administer CSFP, including the content of food and services, delivery systems, interactions with other programs providing food, and nutritional or related health services; and expectations for the future of CSFP, target populations, and relationship with other food assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Community Food Security Assessment Conference | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $127,032 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To contribute to the Department’s Community Food Security Initiative by supporting the development of a standardized community assessment toolkit and sponsoring a conference that gathered an interdisciplinary group of academics and community practitioners from across the country to help guide the development and implementation of the assessment toolkit. More... |
| | Project: Community Food Security Assessment Tool Kit Field Test | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $35,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop a set of standardized instruments for the measurement and assessment of community food security at the local level. This project provides support to ARS’s Delta NIRI for a field test of a community food security assessment tool kit in Drew County, Arkansas. More... |
| | Project: Community Food Security Toolkit | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $149,570 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop a set of standardized instruments for the measurement and assessment of community food security. The menu of instruments will be accompanied by implementation descriptions that will facilitate data collection and analysis at the local level. More... |
| | Project: Conference on Income Volatility and Implications for Food Assistance | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $123,600 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To sponsor a conference on issues related to income volatility in determining movement in and out of food assistance program eligibility, compliance with eligibility criteria over time, and various costs associated with eligibility criteria. More... |
| | Project: Conference on Income Volatility and Implications for Food Assistance
Programs-II | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $152,044 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To sponsor a conference on issues related to income volatility, movement in and out of food assistance program eligibility, the household’s decision to participate, compliance over time, and program costs. The conference and dissemination of its research findings will facilitate interaction among policy leaders, government officials, and the academic community on the topic of efficient delivery of program benefits to eligible participants. More... |
| | Project: Conference on Interventions to Prevent Low Birth Weights | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $30,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To providing support for an international research conference on interventions to prevent low birth weights. Research on USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has demonstrated its importance and cost effectiveness in successfully reducing low birth weight outcomes. More... |
| | Project: Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $1,250,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To improve estimates of low-income household food consumption in the United States by increasing the sample size of low-income individuals in the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) and developing and modifying survey questions related to food assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Creating a WIC Infant Formula Rebate Data Set and Researching Infant Formula Manufacturers' Rebate Bidding Strategies | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $34,946 fiscal 2008: $30,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine patterns and trends in the infant formula rebate auctions of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC). This project will conduct a more in-depth analysis than previous research has by extending the available data set and using econometric methods to examine the bidding strategies of the infant formula manufacturers. More... |
| | Project: Current Population Survey (CPS) Food Security Supplements | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $440,000 fiscal 1999: $440,000 fiscal 2000: $420,000 fiscal 2001: $420,000 fiscal 2002: $450,000 fiscal 2003: $450,000 fiscal 2004: $450,000 fiscal 2005: $450,000 fiscal 2006: $450,000 fiscal 2007: $450,000 fiscal 2008: $922,500 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To sustain annual collection of data on the prevalence of food security in the United States and to provide data for analysis of the determinants of, and changes in, the level of food security. More... |
| | Project: Data Development Initiatives for Research on Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $305,933 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To explore possibilities for investments in new and improved data resources for research on Federal food assistance and nutrition programs. The project will identify and evaluate 10 feasible initiatives for investments in data resources, and then develop an implementation plan and cost estimates for three selected initiatives. More... |
| | Project: Demand Projections Segmented by Income for the Highly Competitive Non-Alcoholic Beverage Complex | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $25,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To obtain better insight into the link between soft drink consumption, obesity and calcium deficiency, this study will examine consumer demand for nonalcoholic beverages in lower and higher income households. More... |
| | Project: Demand System Analysis for Households Segmented by Family Structure and Income | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $20,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To estimate theoretically consistent price and income elasticities for food and nonfood commodities for households distinguished by income and family structure. The resulting elasticities will be incorporated into ERS’s economy-wide modeling of welfare reform. More... |
| | Project: Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $225,024 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $150,000 fiscal 2001: $159,144 fiscal 2002: $179,215 fiscal 2003: $179,314 fiscal 2004: $180,000 fiscal 2005: $179,972 fiscal 2006: $180,000 fiscal 2007: $179,971 fiscal 2008: $179,998 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The University of California-Davis Department of Nutrition is focusing on research on the impact of food assistance programs on nutritional risk indicators (anthropometric, biochemical, clinical, and dietary), food purchasing practices, and food insecurity. This program encourages examinations of multiple indicators of nutrition impact, and interdisciplinary approaches integrating epidemiology, economics, or anthropology with nutrition. More... |
| | Project: Design Considerations for Developing Effective Wording and Format Options for a Children’s Nutrition Behavior Questionnaire | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $74,990 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To improve understanding of the options for wording and modes of administration of future Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) questions about children’s food purchasing and consumption. More... |
| | Project: Design Considerations for Developing Effective Wording and Format Options for a Children’s Nutrition Behavior Questionnaire | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $74,246 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To obtain a better understanding of the design considerations, with respect to interview wording, of a series of questions to be asked of parents of children in kindergarten and/or first grade, regarding their children’s food consumption habits. These questions are planned for potential incorporation into the Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). More... |
| | Project: Determinants of the Food Stamp Caseload | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $125,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the effect of changes in food stamp policies, welfare policies, and economic conditions on the food stamp caseload by using Food Stamp Program Quality Control data. The analysis will focus on how changes in specific policies affect participation among subgroups of the food stamps caseload (e.g., public assistance participants vs. nonparticipants; single parents vs. married parents). More... |
| | Project: Developing a Conceptual Model of the Determinants of USDA School Meal Participation at the School Level | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $34,245 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To characterize school-level participation in USDA’s school meals programs (the School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program) at the free, reduced-price, and full-price levels. The study will use this information to develop a conceptual model of school-level determinants of school meals program participation. The study will use of data from a new study, Food & Fitness, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More... |
| | Project: Developing a Food Security Survey Module for Use with Children and Youths | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $24,500 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop a child/youth version of USDA’s food security survey module that is appropriate for use in either interviewer-administered or self-administered surveys of children between 10 and 16 years of age. More... |
| | Project: Development and Evaluation of the Nutritional Anthropometric Assessment Software in WIC Clinics (Epi Info 2000/Nutstat Module) | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $76,393 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This work supports further development, pilot testing, and evaluation of the nutritional anthropometric software, NUTSTAT, for implementation in clinic operations of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The software improvements will enhance the ability of WIC clinicians to properly assess height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height for program participants relative to national population standards. More... |
| | Project: Development of a Cognitive Testing Protocol and Training Materials for Use in Developing a Common Core Set of Questions on Dietary Behavior | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $50,243 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop materials to support cognitive interview testing of candidate questions for a common core set of questions about the diet quality of Food Stamp Program participants that could be administered as a means of tracking progress in improving diets of Food Stamp Program participants. These materials will include: a protocol that provides detailed instructions for conducting the cognitive interviews, a training manual on the use of that protocol, and supporting materials to be used in training the interviewers. More... |
| | Project: Development of a Questionnaire on Dietary Behavior of Low-Income Populations | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $349,496 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To develop a short questionnaire that will assess important dietary behaviors associated with dietary quality and that will be widely usable with low-income populations across the United States. The questionnaire will be made up of a core set of questions that will assess broad areas of dietary behavior as emphasized by Federal dietary guidance and exemplified by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the 2005 update of the USDA Food Guidance System. The questionnaire also will include modules that expand on the core questionnaire to provide additional information on particular topic areas and that can be flexibly added, as time, money, and respondent burden considerations permit. The questionnaire will be appropriate for use in a telephone survey, although it also may be used in face-to-face situations. More... |
| | Project: Development of Eating Patterns and Dietary Behaviors that Predict Child Obesity | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $306,641 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To evaluate the extent to which specific factors such as eating patterns and certain parent characteristic behaviors are prospectively related to the incidence, remission, and/or persistence of child obesity. More... |
| | Project: Development of Eating Patterns and Obesity in Black Girls | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $399,943 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop obesity prevention strategies targeting adolescent black girls, this study will evaluate the role of dietary patterns as a mediator of the relationship between socio-environmental factors and obesity using the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study (NGHS), the largest longitudinal study of black adolescent females. More... |
| | Project: Development of Prototype Notebook of Short Questions on Dietary Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $46,619 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop a prototype notebook of short questions on dietary knowledge, attitudes, and behavior for use by an expert panel to develop a common core set of questions on dietary behavior. More... |
| | Project: Devolution and Urban Change | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $300,000 fiscal 2000: $250,000 fiscal 2001: $250,000 fiscal 2002: $245,092 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To incorporate a Food Stamp Program (FSP) component into a major analysis by Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation of the effects of welfare reform on the economic and social well-being of low-income families in four urban areas. The study will examine issues such as local office implementation of national FSP policies, how recipients fare, whether local institutions are affected by changes in welfare policies, and how changes are evidenced by indicators of well-being. More... |
| | Project: Diet Intake and Health Outcomes | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $490,209 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop and evaluate dietary assessment tools for young children that can be used in WIC program centers, recognizing that adaptations may be needed for culturally diverse populations. The tools will serve several functions, including screening for dietary patterns that do not meet Federal dietary recommendations, facilitating the triage of patients for services, and serving as the basis for general nutrition education. More... |
| | Project: Diet Patterns, Nutrients and Development of Adolescent Obesity | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $150,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To analyze 1996-2000 data from a longitudinal survey containing annual assessments of diet, activity, weight control practices, and height and weight of adolescents. The project will describe dietary patterns, diet quality, and obesity development. More... |
| | Project: Diet Quality and Its Relationship to Obesity in Rural Alabama African American Children | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $149,670 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To analyze 1996-2000 data from a longitudinal survey containing annual assessments of diet, activity, weight control practices, and height and weight of adolescents. The project will describe dietary patterns, diet quality, and obesity development. More... |
| | Project: Diet, Weight, and USDA School Meal Participation | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $31,803 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine factors that influence the decision to participate in the USDA free or reduced-price school meals programs and determine the association of school meal participation with weight status and dietary behaviors. More... |
| | Project: Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Adequacy: Does Variety Matter? | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $200,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine if a measure of dietary variety increases the ability of currently used dietary quality indexes to predict nutrient adequacy and body mass index. More... |
| | Project: Dietary Risk in the WIC Program: A Scientific Assessment | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $240,840 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To review the scientific basis for methods currently employed in the dietary risk assessment of individuals for eligibility to participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). More... |
| | Project: Direct Certification and its Impact on Errors in the National School Lunch Program | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $779,364 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To assess the prevalence of direct certification in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and its effects on certification, participation, and verification error rates. A nationally representative sample of School Food Authorities will be surveyed to gather information from NSLP applications for free and reduced-price meals and from State and local welfare offices. More... |
| | Project: Dynamics of Food Stamp Program Participation in Maryland | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $12,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To study program entry and exit dynamics across geographic locations within Maryland and across different types of program participants using longitudinal Food Stamp Program administrative data. More... |
| | Project: Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort 2000 | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $200,000 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $400,000 fiscal 2001: $230,000 fiscal 2002: $552,000 fiscal 2003: $80,200 fiscal 2004: $20,000 fiscal 2005: $456,954 fiscal 2006: $170,754 fiscal 2007: $170,754 fiscal 2008: $167,639 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To include USDA's food security module and other items in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Birth Cohort, sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. The survey was pre-tested for nine-month-old children, gathering infant height and weight data as well as responses to questions on food security, infant feeding practices, and participation in food assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey--Kindergarten Cohort | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $500,000 fiscal 2000: $250,000 fiscal 2001: $360,000 fiscal 2002: $448,000 fiscal 2003: $605,818 fiscal 2004: $621,709 fiscal 2005: $310,854 fiscal 2006: $686,753 fiscal 2007: $486,752 fiscal 2008: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To include USDA’s food security module and other items in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. The project will provide descriptive data on children's status at entry into school, children's transition into school, participation in the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs, and children’s progress through fifth grade—including data that allow for the examination of the relationship between food security/hunger, cognitive development, and school performance. More... |
| | Project: Eating Patterns and Diet Quality In Young Adults | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $150,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To identify eating pattern typologies that are associated with diet quality in young adults, and link these typologies to socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle characteristics. The study will also examine the association among eating patterns, overall diet quality, and obesity. More... |
| | Project: Eating Patterns, Diet Quality, and Obesity | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $220,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify eating patterns associated with diet quality and obesity in children and young adults from a biracial population, using the Bogalusa Heart Study database. The project will also identify strategies for changing eating patterns and improving diet quality. More... |
| | Project: Economic Benefits of a Breast-Feeding Promotion: A Controlled Clinical Trial | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $399,700 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To evaluate the benefits of a breastfeeding promotion intervention campaign among low-income women. A randomized controlled clinical trial will examine the effects on breastfeeding prevalence and duration, infant health, and infant medical costs of providing the mother with personalized breastfeeding counseling. More... |
| | Project: Economic Determinants of School Meal Participation | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $199,971 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine school meal costs and school and student participation rates in school meal programs and to explore the linkage between local food prices and school and student participation rates. The study will use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), food price data, and school food revenues and costs data. More... |
| | Project: Economic Research Service's Second Food Security Conference | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $100,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: The focus was to provide direction for future research needs and data collection, including the potential for measurement of individual food security; and to foster interaction among public and private researchers in the involvement, refinement, validation, and use of the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Department of Health and Human Services food security measurement scale. More... |
| | Project: Effect of EITC on Food Stamp Program Participation Among the Working Poor | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $139,849 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine trends and seasonality in the receipt of Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) and food stamp benefits among the working poor, to determine whether some of the unexplained portion of recent declines in Food Stamp Program participation can be attributed to increases in EITC receipt, and to determine whether seasonal variation in FSP participation across States is related to Federal and/or State EITC receipt. More... |
| | Project: Effect of Provider Instability on Cross-Sectional Estimates of the Demand for Emergency Food | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $17,966 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To describe longitudinal patterns of service delivery by emergency food providers in the Kansas City area and produce an estimate of the bias incurred when cross-sectional data are used to estimate trends in the demand for emergency food. More... |
| | Project: Effective Tax Rates and Guarantees and Food Stamp Program Participation | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $100,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To estimate the impact of food stamp benefit guarantees and tax rates on households’ decisions to participate in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Concern has arisen about possible work-disincentive effects of FSP rules that impose high effective tax rates on families that choose to increase their work effort and about program actions that effectively reduce the level of program guarantees. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Agricultural Research and Farm Subsidy Policies on Human Nutrition and Obesity | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $30,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the linkages between agricultural policies and obesity. Agricultural policies—including commodity price supports, import barriers, and public agricultural research and development--can affect commodity markets, prices and nutritional characteristics of food products, and thus, consumption choices and nutritional outcomes. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Change From Universal-Free to Eligibility-Based School Breakfast Program | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $250,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To investigate the financial, participation, attendance, health, behavioral, and academic changes associated with a change from a universal-free to an eligibility-based School Breakfast Program. The study uses data obtained as a result of changes in policy in the Guilford County school system in North Carolina. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Changes in WIC Food Packages on Redemptions | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $237,873 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the impact of the 2007 revisions in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food package on participant food choices and acceptance of the food package and cost neutrality by using point-of-purchase data from a select set of WIC retailers in Wisconsin. This quantitative analysis will be supplemented by qualitative data collected from focus groups with participants who are new to WIC since the food package was revised and with participants familiar with the old food package in order to identify possible reasons or motives behind any observed changes in food choices. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Changes to State and Federal Asset Eligibility Policies for the Food Stamp Program | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $130,000 fiscal 2008: $19,587 not applicable; conducted by ERS staff. | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the effects of recent and proposed changes to the asset and categorical eligibility policies in the Food Stamp Program. Estimated effects will include changes in benefit costs, administrative costs, participant characteristics, and State-to-State equitability of the program. Results will provide policymakers with information on how different types of households would fare under various policy scenarios. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Food Security on Pregnancy Outcomes | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $250,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To add a food security research component to the large, ongoing Epidemiology of Exertion, Stress and Preterm Delivery Study (PIN-III). The project will examine the relationships between food insecurity and maternal nutritional indicators, poor birth outcomes, and social and environmental factors. More... |
| | Project: Effects of Immigration on WIC and National School Lunch Program Caseloads | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $144,765 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To estimate the relative contributions of increased immigration, both legal and unauthorized, to increased participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the National School Lunch Program based on data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). More... |
| | Project: Effects of WIC and Food Stamp Program Participation on Child Outcomes | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $134,949 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the individual effects of WIC and Food Stamp Program participation as well as their combined multiple participation effects on a wide range of child health and well-being outcomes using a longitudinal database linking several administrative datasets in Illinois. More... |
| | Project: Effects on Childhood Obesity of Participation in Multiple Nutrition Assistance Programs | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the shortrun and longrun effects on childhood obesity of participating in three Federal food assistance programs—National School Lunch, School Breakfast, and Food Stamp programs—by using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K). Impacts of both single and multiple program participation will be estimated. More... |
| | Project: Employment Factors Influencing Food Stamp Program Participation Among the Working Poor | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $149,995 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To describe employment characteristics of working food stamp recipients and estimate the effects of these characteristics on Food Stamp Program participation decision in the pre- and post-welfare reform periods. More... |
| | Project: Employment Status and Food Stamp Program Participation as Determinants of Eating Patterns of Low-Income Households | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $150,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine how employment and food stamp participation alters meal preparation and consumption patterns. Researchers will use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Statistical methods will be used to account for the simultaneity of program participation and employment decisions and their respective effects on food preparation time and eating patterns. More... |
| | Project: Employment, Home Meal Production, Food Spending, and Food Security in Food Stamp Households | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $136,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the time inputs required for home meal production, and the tradeoffs between time and food costs, in order to better understand the at-home meal production process in low income households. This study will also examine the relationships among labor force participation of the household meal preparer, food spending, and household food security. More... |
| | Project: Evaluating Changes in WIC Participant Food Purchasing as a Result of WIC Nutrition Education | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $260,187 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To use point-of-purchase data from grocery stores in Washington State together with WIC administrative records to examine changes in WIC participant shopping behavior (for WIC foods) after the implementation of local nutrition education interventions designed to change purchasing behaviors (for WIC foods). More... |
| | Project: Evaluating the Impact of School Breakfast and Lunch | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $150,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To investigate effects of the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program on participants’ food security and nutrition outcomes using both clinical and interview data. More... |
| | Project: Evaluating the Impact of School Breakfast on Learning: Design and Feasibility | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $289,311 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop and evaluate alternative study designs that would permit future evaluation of the impact of school breakfast on learning and cognitive development. The research will identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative designs and address such critical issues as controlling for confounding factors. More... |
| | Project: Evaluation of Food Stamp Program Nutrition Education | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $498,940 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This work develops methodology and validates instruments to support evaluation of food stamp nutrition education activities. Methods and instruments are needed which minimize respondent burden, are inexpensive and easy to administer, and are appropriate for low-literacy and/or low-income populations. The project is conducting research to support the development and validation of a methodology to evaluate the Food Stamp Program's nutrition education activities. More... |
| | Project: Evaluation of Policy Change on Middle School Student Lunch Consumption | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $179,396 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To compare dietary patterns of middle school students before and after a new policy to enforce restrictions on competitive food sales in schools. The study will use point of sale data and self-reported lunch food records from middle schools in Pasadena, Texas to test whether daily purchases of fruits and vegetables increase after the policy change; whether purchases of high-fat and high-sugar foods decrease; and whether student consumption of fat and total energy decrease. More... |
| | Project: Evaluation of State Food Policy Changes as Incentives To Foster Improved Middle School Lunch Selection and Consumption | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $149,085 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To collect and analyze lunch food records from three Texas middle schools during the 2005-06 school year, which is after a food policy limited sizes of packaged snacks and desserts and sweetened beverages and required reduced-fat milk to be served in all school food environments. Consumption of nutrients and food groups from different sources (National School Lunch Program, a la carte items, vending machines, or food from home) will be compared with data previously collected in the same schools in 2001-02 and in 2002-03 after a districtwide policy eliminated chips and sweetened items from middle school snack bars. More... |
| | Project: Evaluation of Three Models Designed to Increase Participation of Eligible Elderly in the Food Stamp Program | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $1,050,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To test which of three models in six demonstration sites can most cost-effectively increase participation of the eligible elderly in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The three models involve simplification of the FSP application, assistance in completion of the FSP application, or the option of receiving FSP benefits in the form of a package of commodities. More... |
| | Project: Expanded Study of Welfare Reform on Immigrants | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $300,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine the economic, social, nutritional, and health effects of changes in food stamp eligibility and other aspects of welfare reform on immigrants, their households, and communities. Interviews of households that were in the Urban Institute’s National Survey of American Families will provide longitudinal information and a check on retrospective information on food stamp receipt, food security, and their relationship to economic, social, nutritional, and health outcomes. More... |
| | Project: Explaining High Levels of Food Insecurity and Hunger in the Pacific Northwest | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $29,975 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the effects of unemployment, seasonality of employment, housing costs, and migration patterns on food insecurity and hunger in Oregon and Washington where levels of food insecurity and hunger exceed the national average. More... |
| | Project: Exploration of Potential Uses of Behavioral Economics Concepts for Improving the Diets of Food Assistance Program Participants | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $99,540 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the potential applicability of behavioral economics and food psychology concepts to strategies for improving the diets of food assistance program participants. The project will include a critical review of the literature, generation of experimental hypotheses, development of experimental protocols, and small-scale experiments. More... |
| | Project: Exploring Technical Enhancements to Improve Food Security Measurement | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $69,880 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To explore technical enhancements to improve USDA’s measurement of food security based on recommendations by the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT). The study will consider several enhancements of the statistical model used to assess food security items and construct food security measures. More... |
| | Project: Exploring the Link Between Food Assistance Programs and Child Obesity | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $235,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the effect of participation in the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, and the School Breakfast Program on child weight, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) and a range of econometric approaches. In particular, the study will examine participation in food assistance programs and its effects on food intake and food security and their subsequent effects on child weight. More... |
| | Project: Factors Affecting Childhood Obesity Among Low-Income Households | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $99,828 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Using data from USDA’s 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) and a statistical technique to correct for selectivity bias, the study is designed to ascertain if children from low-income households that participated in food assistance programs are at a greater risk of becoming obese than are their counterparts. More... |
| | Project: Factors Associated with Iron Status Among WIC Infants in Rural West Virginia | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $135,004 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To collect primary data on WIC infants and toddlers, ages 6 to 24 months, in West Virginia counties that are known to have high rates of iron-deficiency anemia, to identify dietary factors that are associated with poor iron status, and to provide data that can be used to design and implement effective nutrition education and intervention programs. More... |
| | Project: Family Child Care Homes Legislative Changes Study | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $1,959,007 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Report to Congress on the effects of the new tiered meal reimbursements for family child care homes participating in the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program (CACFP) on sponsoring organizations, participating and dropout homes, and children. More... |
| | Project: Feasibility and Accuracy of Record Linkage to Estimate Multiple Program Participation | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $354,927 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify the feasibility of linking the administrative data files from food stamps, WIC, and child nutrition programs to facilitate analysis of multiple program participation and to improve program operations in such areas as one-stop shopping, adjunctive eligibility determination, program integrity, and administrative and client burden. More... |
| | Project: Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $110,000 fiscal 1999: $200,000 fiscal 2000: $202,000 fiscal 2001: $202,000 fiscal 2002: $202,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support to the National Agricultural Library (NAL) in systematically storing and disseminating information on USDA’s food assistance programs, nutrition education, and related nutrition issues; and hosting a website and list server. More... |
| | Project: Food and Nutrition Summer Institute | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $20,000 fiscal 2000: $20,000 fiscal 2001: $20,000 fiscal 2002: $20,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To help sponsor the Food and Nutrition Summer Institute, which has the objectives of positioning the nutrition programs of historically black colleges and universities to meet research and education challenges, and of creating a stronger voice and action for nutrition education, research, and policy within the African-American community. More... |
| | Project: Food Demand in Low-Income Households | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $130,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To estimate the effects of food prices and household income on the demand for fruits, vegetables, and other food products in low-income households, using data from the ACNielsen Homescan panel survey of household food purchases and the National Food Stamp Program Survey. The research will expand on earlier work by focusing on low-income households and using a hierarchical demand model to examine demand for subgroups of foods within the broader food categories. More... |
| | Project: Food Demands and Nutrient Availability of Low-Income Households | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $10,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To estimate the effect of Food Stamp Program (FSP) benefits on households’ food expenditures and nutrient availability using 1997-98 data from the National Food Stamp Program Survey. Studies that documented positive effects of food stamp benefits on food expenditure and nutrient availability have become dated. More... |
| | Project: Food Expenditures by Food Stamp Recipients: Results Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $34,496 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The study will use the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) to tabulate food expenditures of recipients and nonrecipients by various sociodemographic characteristics. The study will also investigate underreporting of Food Stamp Program participation and benefits in the CE by sociodemographic characteristics. More... |
| | Project: Food Insecurity and Outcomes for Infants and Toddlers in the ECLS-B | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the association between food insecurity and child outcomes, and to determine the pathways through which food insecurity influences outcomes for infants and toddlers in the domains of nutrition; health; motor development; and cognitive, social, and emotional development. It will also determine how these associations and pathways differ based on the characteristics of children and their families—specifically, birthweight, income, and parental nativity. The study will use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). More... |
| | Project: Food Insecurity in the Second Generation | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $150,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine food insecurity in the immigrant population and the effects of socioeconomic characteristics, networks in ethnic enclaves, Food Stamp Program participation, and welfare reform on differences in food insecurity between immigrant and other households. More... |
| | Project: Food Prices and Availability and Children's Health and Developmental Outcomes | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $174,897 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the association between obesity and children's academic and developmental outcomes in elementary school; to examine the association between neighborhood characteristics; and to simulate the impact of changes in neighborhood food price and availability on children's outcomes. More... |
| | Project: Food Security and Health Outcomes in the California Health Interview Survey | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $100,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To adapt the USDA Food Security Core Module for use with different ethnic populations participating in the California Health Interview Survey. The survey investigates the relationship of household-level food insecurity and hunger to self-reported health status, health services utilization, dietary quality, and preventative health behaviors. More... |
| | Project: Food Security Measurement Expert Review Panel Study | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $230,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support for a National Academy of Science panel to review the conceptualization and methods for measuring food security for monitoring, evaluation, and related research purposes. More... |
| | Project: Food Security, Behavior Problems and Health among Kindergarten and First-Grade Children | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $214,768 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the relationships among food security, childhood behavior problems, health, and educational achievement using data from the kindergarten and first grade children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is a unique source of data of a nationally representative sample of approximately 21,000 young children, with survey participation by their families, teachers, and schools. More... |
| | Project: Food Security, Obesity and Mental Health in Mothers and Preschool Children | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $150,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the relationships among household food security, the obesity status of mothers and their preschool children, and the mental health of mothers and the prevalence of children's behavioral issues. Household food insecurity may cause mothers and young children to experience worse health due to poor nutrition and stress associated with uncertainty about obtaining an adequate supply of food. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Certification Periods and Payment Accuracy: State Experience During 1996-2000 | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $159,463 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine the extent to which State-level payment error rates in the Food Stamp Program are due to inaccuracy in initial certifications as opposed to inaccurate payment levels for ongoing cases. The relationship between shortened certification periods, payment accuracy, FSP participation, and administrative costs will be examined through case studies in three States. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Program Certification Costs and Errors, 1989-2005 | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $130,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the causes of recent declines in Food Stamp Program error rates, including the possible role of recent options for program simplification and new emphasis on access. The project will also examine the role of State program policies, caseload characteristics, economic conditions, and expenditures on certification-related activities. The project will extend previous analyses of the period 1989-2001 to include data through 2005. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Program Elderly Demonstration | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $198,816 fiscal 2002: $3,785 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop a plan for evaluating a set of demonstrations, funded by the Food and Nutrition Service, that are aimed at increasing food stamp participation among the eligible elderly. The plan will address implementation issues and effects on participation, administrative costs, client and stakeholder satisfaction, and household food stamp benefit levels. Additional funding was provided to support the organizational meeting with State sites. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Program Eligibility and Participation: A Comparison of Census Surveys and Administrative Data | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $150,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To link administrative data from Maryland and Illinois with survey data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS). These linked data will be used to better describe and analyze participation in the Food Stamp Program, assess the quality of Food Stamp Program participation data from the CPS and ACS, and outline methods that can be used to conduct similar linkages with data from other States. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Program Entry and Exit: Economic and Policy Influences on Participation Decisions | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $200,341 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how changes in economic conditions and welfare policies affect entry into and exit from the Food Stamp Program for the aggregate caseload and various subgroups. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Program Microsimulation and Related Analysis | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $778,628 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide the simulations and related technical expertise needed to estimate the impact of proposed changes to the FSP. Other objectives include: maintaining and improving microsimulation capabilities, preparing databases, and conducting supporting research. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp Use by Legal Immigrants Before and After the 2003 Restorations | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $200,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the impact of the 2002 Farm Bill’s restoration of food stamp benefits to noncitizens. The study will use data modified by Urban Institute’s Transfer Income Model (TRIM), which corrects for underreporting and misreporting of food stamp participation. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamp, NSLP, and WIC Underreporting in Household Surveys: Comparing Aggregates and Assessing the Implications | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $30,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To calculate reporting rates for the three main food assistance programs—the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC)—in four commonly used national household surveys. Both dollar reporting rates and reporting rates for number of participants will be calculated and compared with administrative data to determine the extent to which underreporting occurs. More... |
| | Project: Food Stamps, Food Insecurity and Expenditures: A Simultaneous-Equation System | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $70,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the relationships among Food Stamp Program participation, food insecurity, and food expenditures using an econometric model developed to address sample selection bias and interrelated decisionmaking. More... |
| | Project: Food Sufficiency, Food Stamp Program Participation and the Health of the Elderly | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $80,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the relationships among participation in the Food Stamp Program, food sufficiency, and health of the elderly in the United States. Econometric techniques will be used to develop a better understanding of the simultaneous effects these factors. Findings could prove useful for planning policy interventions to improve the well-being of this vulnerable age group as they become a larger share of the population. More... |
| | Project: Food Sufficiency, the Role of Food Stamp Program Participation, Duration, and Policies | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $150,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the extent to which Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation and duration of participation affect food sufficiency, using data from the 1996, 2001, and 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) panels and the FSP Rules Database. The FSP Rules Database provides a unique set of FSP policy variables that show promise as instruments for controlling for selection bias. A number of approaches will also be used to examine duration of FSP participation and its effects on food insufficiency. More... |
| | Project: Forces Impacting Social and Economic Well-Being in the Rural South | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $40,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide additional support of analysis conducted in tandem with the project “Program Access and Declining Food Stamp Participation.” This work focuses on the rural South, examining how households in the region decide to participate in the Food Stamp Program. More... |
| | Project: Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program Evaluation | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $217,059 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide an interim evaluation of the Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program (FVPP) as set forth by Congress in the Nutrition Title of the 2002 Farm Act. The evaluation assessed the feasibility of carrying out such a program and students' interest in participating in the program. More... |
| | Project: Future Costs of Childhood Obesity: Estimates and Implications | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $150,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To develop national estimates of the long-term costs of youths being overweight. Such estimates will be useful in informing decisions regarding investments in programs for overweight prevention and treatment, as well as related research initiatives. This project will develop novel probabilistic models for estimating long-term direct costs (health care) and indirect costs (missed school, missed work, disability) related to youths being overweight. The project will analyze data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for the years 2000-2002 for children aged 10-18 in age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) categories, combined with corresponding MEPS-linked National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data for adults aged 19-35. These data will be supplemented by data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). More... |
| | Project: Growth of Obesity and Health Economic Research | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $15,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To organize a workshop involving leading health economists on the economics of obesity. More... |
| | Project: Household Based Food Purchase Data | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $152,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To fund the purchase of household based retail food purchase scanner data to conduct research on the economics of interactions between consumers’ purchasing behavior and food retailing. More... |
| | Project: Household Demand for Fruits and Vegetables: An Analysis of Homescan Data | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of promoting the consumption of fruits and vegetables through price subsidies or other economic incentives, this study will estimate household demands for fruits and vegetables. More... |
| | Project: Household Food Security and Tradeoffs in the Food Budget: A Revitalized Engel Approach Including Food Stamps | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $75,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To measure how Food Stamp Program benefits affect household spending on food consumed at home and away from home and how these spending decisions, in turn, influence household food security. Data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) Food Security Supplement and the Food Stamp Program Quality Control files for 2001-04 will be used. More... |
| | Project: Household Routines and the Development of Obesity in U.S. Preschool Children | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $155,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the prospective association between childhood obesity and the presence of household routines around family meals, sleep, television, and outdoor play by using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). The study will also determine whether associations between obesity and the presence of routines differ by income eligibility for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and/or maternal obesity status. More... |
| | Project: How are State Food Stamp and TANF Policy Choices Affecting Food Stamp Participation | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $99,999 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To quantify Food Stamp Program State-level policy changes made between 1996 and 2003 and, using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), estimate the relative impacts of Food Stamp Program policies, cash welfare policies, and economic and demographic characteristics on Food Stamp Program participation. More... |
| | Project: Hunger: Its Risk and Impact in Poor Female-Headed Households with Children | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $250,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify factors that predispose poor households to, or protect them from, food insecurity and hunger. The study will examine the impact of food insecurity/hunger on a variety of measures, such as food insecurity, physical and emotional health of mother and children, and children's academic achievement. More... |
| | Project: Identify and Evaluate Methods To Prevent Fraud and Abuse Among Staff and Participants in WIC | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $225,550 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify and evaluate the best tools for detecting fraud and abuse among WIC staff or participants. The study will review existing tools and data systems presently in use by some States for detecting fraud and abuse among WIC vendors. The project was identified by the National Association of WIC Directors as a high research priority. More... |
| | Project: Identifying Behavioral Economics Factors Affecting Food Consumption | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $399,773 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To collect and link information on individuals’ food intake and time use throughout the day with psychological and cognitive factors to gain insight into new strategies to improve dietary choices. Using contemporary behavioral economics concepts, the study will develop and test new survey questions for measuring psychosocial and cognitive factors that have proven fruitful in understanding consumer behavior in other areas. More... |
| | Project: Impact of Food Stamps and WIC on Health and Longrun Economic Outcomes | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $99,995 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the shortrun impacts of the Food Stamp Program (FSP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on health outcomes, such as birthweight, low birthweight births, and infant mortality using “natural experiments” created from variations in the timing of availability of the FSP and WIC. The study will link county-level data on program introduction dates and vital statistics Longitudinal data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) (1968-2005) will be used to examine the impact of in-utero and childhood exposure to the FSP on adult outcomes, such as completed education, employment, earnings, income, Body Mass Index, chronic health conditions, and work/activity limitations. More... |
| | Project: Impact of Food Sufficiency on Food Choices of Low Income Children | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $48,581 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the relationships of food sufficiency, diet quality, and food consumption patterns among children 2- to 8-years-old in low-income households, using eating pattern typologies identified by cluster analysis, and to explore the impact of coping strategies on adequacy, diversity and dietary patterns. More... |
| | Project: Impacts of Shifts in Food Demand on the Farm Sector | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University
To estimate the impacts on retail and farm prices of changes in income and other factors affecting consumer demand in a framework that accounts for the diversity of products as well as the diversity of household budgets. More... |
| | Project: Implementation of Options and Waivers to Increase Access to the Food Stamp Program
| | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $248,229 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how new options and waivers designed to increase access to the Food Stamp Program are being implemented and to assess their effects on program operations, cost, and participation. The study will include in-depth interviews in four case studies at local welfare offices. More... |
| | Project: Implementation of the National School Lunch Program Application and Verifications Pilot Projects | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $36,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support for the initial phase of setup and evaluation for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) pilot demonstration sites for the Food and Nutrition Service’s study of alternative NSLP application and verification procedures. More... |
| | Project: Improving Access to Food Stamps for Low-Income Working Households | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $178,433 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine food stamp use among low-income working households, a group for which the number of eligible households substantially exceeds the number of participating households. Data will involve longitudinal information on food stamp benefits, food sufficiency, material hardship, and child well-being. More... |
| | Project: Improving the Measurement of Food Security and Hunger | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $200,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To improve the measurement of food security and hunger at the household level by: (1) assessing changes in food security prevalence over time; (2) investigating alternative approaches for measuring food security items and classifying households into food security categories; and (3) developing and field-testing a set of questions for future modifications of the food security scale. More... |
| | Project: Income Volatility and Its Effect on Food Stamp Participation of the Working Poor | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $100,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the effect of short-term and long-term earnings volatility on the Food Stamp Program participation decisions of the working poor, a group that has had low levels of program participation. The study will analyze data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to administrative data on earnings records from the Social Security Administration. More... |
| | Project: Incorporating Nutritional and Economic Factors Into Planning School Lunch | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $213,365 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To model the relationship between foods and nutrients offered in school lunches and what participants actually consume at lunch and over 24 hours using data from the 2005 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA-III). The model will consider food costs, school environment, and food policy variables, such as the availability of competing foods and vending machines. More... |
| | Project: Infant Formula Prices and Availability | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, not applicable; conducted by ERS staff. | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine effects on the infant formula market of USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, infants, and Children (WIC) infant formula rebate program. More... |
| | Project: Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $234,843 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $150,000 fiscal 2001: $160,000 fiscal 2002: $180,000 fiscal 2003: $180,000 fiscal 2004: $180,000 fiscal 2005: $180,000 fiscal 2006: $180,000 fiscal 2007: $180,000 fiscal 2008: $180,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin is focusing on research that addresses the effects of food assistance on individual and family well-being and food security. More... |
| | Project: Integrated Study of School Meal Costs and Outcomes: A Design, Cost, and Feasibility Plan | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $560,592 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To design a study of USDA school meal programs that jointly examines meal costs and nutrition. The design study will develop, test, and cost out study procedures and analyze designs. More... |
| | Project: Integrating Food Stamp Program Rules and Processes With Other Public Assistance Programs | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $99,909 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To extend an existing simulation model to evaluate tradeoffs associated with options to simplify Food Stamp Program eligibility determination. Special emphasis will be placed on the impacts of using eligibility based on other public assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Interactions Between the Food Stamp Program and the Economy | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $185,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To investigate changes in Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation as related to measures of economic activity and FSP policies. In addition to examining effects on the aggregate FSP caseload, the study will separately analyze changes in the number of individuals eligible for the program and the participation rate among those eligible. Both static and dynamic models will be estimated using State-level cross-section time-series data from microsimulation models for the period 1999-2006. A select survey of FSP administrators and community organizations will supplement the analyses. More... |
| | Project: Interpretation and Use of Dietary Reference Intakes | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $100,000 fiscal 2001: $261,008 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To promote understanding of the proper methods for assessing health- and nutrition-related outcomes for food assistance programs. ERS will support NAS research on how the newly developed Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) should be incorporated into program design and evaluations. This phase of the project focuses on the appropriate uses of the DRIs for dietary planning for groups, households, individuals, and meals. More... |
| | Project: Joint Center for Poverty Research, University of Chicago and Northwestern University | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $262,740 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $169,999 fiscal 2001: $160,000 fiscal 2002: $179,999 fiscal 2003: $179,999 fiscal 2004: $179,999 fiscal 2005: $179,999 fiscal 2006: $179,999 fiscal 2007: $179,999 fiscal 2008: $179,999 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The Joint Center for Poverty Research, University of Chicago and Northwestern University focuses on interactions between food assistance and other welfare programs, and linkages between the macroeconomy and food assistance. More... |
| | Project: Journal of Nutrition Education Special Issue for the Elderly | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $14,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To support dissemination of Food Assistance Nutrition Research Program intramural and extramural research on the elderly, the factors that influence their diets, and the role that USDA food assistance and nutrition programs can play in maintaining or improving the nutrition and health status of the elderly. More... |
| | Project: Labor Market Participation and Government Assistance Program Participation | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $12,100 fiscal 2001: $5,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide a comprehensive descriptive analysis of labor force participation of households with income under the food stamp threshold and of the jobs that food stamp recipients are likely to enter. The project will bring together data on the characteristics of low-skilled workers and low-wage jobs. An amendment supports an expanded analysis of CPS data. More... |
| | Project: Lifestyle Mediators of Diet Quality | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $199,994 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To explain differences in diet quality and diet-related health outcomes by developing a set of consumer lifestyle patterns that reflect combination of food consumption and other lifestyle behaviors, such as the use of dietary supplements, among adult Americans. More... |
| | Project: Longitudinal Analysis of the Earnings and Food Stamp Participation of the Working Poor | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $169,489 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how the long-term earnings patterns of the working poor who are eligible for food stamps are related to their participation in the Food Stamp Program. The project will conduct an extensive analysis of linked files from the 1992-96 Survey of Income and Program Participation and Social Security Administration earnings histories. More... |
| | Project: Longitudinal Modeling of the Effects of Dietary Intakes on Body Composition and Risk Factors for Coronary Disease in the Women’s Health Trial: Feasibility Study in Minority Populations | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $121,000 fiscal 2002: $34,400 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To develop dynamic models to explain selected nutrition-related risk factors for chronic disease among participants in a 12-month randomized trial of a low-fat diet. Results will provide insights into factors influencing success in changing dietary behavior, and the effects of dietary intakes on body composition and other physiological measures of nutritional status. Additional funding was provided to extend the analysis to a second data set composed of Food Stamp Program participants. More... |
| | Project: Long-Term Effects of Food Stamp Receipt During Childhood on Adult Outcomes | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $110,605 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess whether receiving food stamps during childhood affects adult outcomes, such as Body Mass Index (BMI), food insecurity, health, physical activity levels, and various economic outcomes, by using longitudinal data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID). The study will also examine the relationship between receiving food stamps during childhood and adult outcomes in terms of neighborhood characteristics during childhood to determine whether food stamp receipt is less advantageous for children living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. More... |
| | Project: Low-Income Families Survival Strategies for Managing Shocks to Economic Well-Being | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $91,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the economic survival strategies of low-income families based on detailed interviews. The study will analyze how, when, and under what circumstances families use the Food Stamp Program; the decisionmaking process around Food Stamp Program application, enrollment, and recertification; and the role that food assistance programs play in families’ overall economic coping strategies. Households will be selected from the Michigan Women’s Employment Survey. More... |
| | Project: Maternal Employment and Children’s Nutrition Outcomes | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $206,904 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To explore the implications of mothers’ employment status for children’s nutrition outcomes including participation in various food and nutrition assistance programs, food- and nutrient-based measures of dietary intake, food security, and obesity. More... |
| | Project: Measuring Consumption Response to Prices in a Dynamic Model of Consumer Food Purchase Behavior | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $249,494 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To analyze the economic determinants of food purchasing and consumption behavior of low-income households, using data from the ACNielsen Homescan panel survey of food purchases. An inventory model will be used to examine shortrun and longrun responses to food prices. The study will also examine the longrun implications of package sizes on overconsumption. More... |
| | Project: Measuring the Extent of Food Stamp Trafficking Using EBT Data | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $89,542 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To gather information and solicit expert opinion regarding options that can be used by USDA to better monitor, investigate, measure, and annually report on the extent of food stamp trafficking using Electronic Benefit Transfer data. More... |
| | Project: Methodology to Evaluate Effects of Team Nutrition Program in Schools | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To develop a methodology to assess level of implementation of USDA’s Team Nutrition Program, and examine the feasibility of a web-based survey as a data collection mechanism. More... |
| | Project: Modeling WIC Eligibility and Participation of Infants and Children | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $27,273 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To revise methods of using survey data to estimate WIC eligibility and participation patterns, focusing on such patterns for infants less than one year of age, and to examine outcomes for WIC infants and children. More... |
| | Project: Modifying Effects of Participation in Food Assistance Programs on the Obesity, Health, and Well-Being of Adults | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $67,431 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine, in a sample of adult men and women, the causal relationships among food insecurity, obesity, and other measures of health status and well-being, and to test for the modifying effect of household participation in TANF, the Food Stamp Program, and WIC. More... |
| | Project: Modifying Effects of Participation in Food Assistance Programs on the Weight Status, Health, Development, and Well-Being of Children | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $67,066 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine, in a sample of elementary-aged children, the causal relationships among food insecurity, overweight, and other measures of child development and well-being, and to test for the modifying effect of participation in TANF, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, and past participation in WIC and Head Start. More... |
| | Project: National Food Price and Sales Information System | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $235,000 fiscal 1999: $6,000 fiscal 2000: $82,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support for the most recent national data on food prices, quantities, comparable volumes, dollar sales, and promotional information at the product group, class, brand, and item levels and information on promotional treatments. In fiscal 2001, a data purchase of $72,700 was made for data from a household food purchases survey. More... |
| | Project: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES IV) | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $100,000 fiscal 1999: $125,000 fiscal 2000: $116,388 fiscal 2001: $120,578 fiscal 2002: $129,416 fiscal 2003: $132,522 fiscal 2004: $135,000 fiscal 2005: $132,522 fiscal 2006: $135,000 fiscal 2007: $135,000 fiscal 2008: $148,500 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To support collection of data on diet, food consumption, health status, and food security as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). More... |
| | Project: Nutrition and Health Outcomes of USDA Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $526,358 fiscal 2000: $209,090 fiscal 2002: $61,932 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To improve and expand understanding of the effects of USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs on food consumption, nutrient availability and intakes, dietary quality, nutritional status, and health outcomes. Additional funding was provided to expand tabular analysis to include distributions of usual intake of nutrients. More... |
| | Project: Obesity in Low-Income Mothers and Children | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $350,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Using links between WIC data and birth certificate data on approximately 35,000 mother-child pairs, the study will examine factors that may influence the probability that by age 4 a WIC child with an obese mother will also be obese. More... |
| | Project: Panel Cointegration Estimation of Food Stamp Program Caseloads | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To use advanced cointegration modeling techniques to assess the relationships among the macroeconomy and welfare reform on food stamp caseloads. More... |
| | Project: Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $444,830 fiscal 1999: $104,500 fiscal 2000: $200,000 fiscal 2001: $200,000 fiscal 2002: $200,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To sustain and improve the collection of food assistance data in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The PSID collects longitudinal data on family composition, income, use of public assistance, food security, and factors associated with family self-sufficiency. More... |
| | Project: Parental Time, Role Strains, Coping, and Children’s Diet and Nutrition | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $251,707 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To study the effects of time use, time constraints, work demands, role strains, and coping mechanisms on children’s diets and obesity risk. A survey of 300 households, with single parents oversampled, will provide detailed information for the analysis. More... |
| | Project: Parenting Practices and Obesity in Low-Income African-American Preschoolers | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $260,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To refine and administer the Preschooler Feeding Questionnaire (PFQ), which is designed to identify specific parenting practices associated with preschool children becoming overweight. The target population of the refined PFQ is low-income African-American mothers, whose 2- to 5-year-old children are at high risk for becoming overweight. More... |
| | Project: Plate Waste in School Nutrition Programs | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, not applicable; conducted by ERS staff. | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To review the literature on plate waste in school nutrition programs, particularly the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), in order to determine the level of plate waste in these programs, factors that contribute to plate waste, and strategies that may reduce waste. More... |
| | Project: Post-Conference Workshop on Evaluation of Nutrition Education with Low-Income Families | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $30,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To sponsor a workshop of nutrition education programs that target low-income families to promote development of strengthened evaluation and to encourage joint evaluation efforts by directors of nutrition education programs. More... |
| | Project: Pre-test for ERS Module for the American Time Use Survey | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $80,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To pretest a module of questions on food assistance, eating, and obesity risk to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). Specifically, this project will enable the testing and refinement of questions involving eating as a secondary activity. This information, along with height and weight, will allow for research on time use patterns as they relate to obesity risk. Questions on food assistance participation will also be tested. These questions when included in the ATUS will allow for research on time use patterns of participants and non-participants More... |
| | Project: Processes of Getting and Staying on Food Stamps in South Carolina | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the factors that explain whether and how long people participate in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The analysis will focus on program features, economic conditions, and household characteristics as determinants of FSP participation, using 1996-2005 case records from South Carolina’s Food Stamp, Medicaid, and Unemployment Insurance programs. More... |
| | Project: Program Access and Declining Food Stamp Program Participation | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $1,889,035 fiscal 2001: $311,214 fiscal 2002: $60,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine how the decisions by clients to participate in the Food Stamp Program have been affected by changes, such as customer service at local welfare office and increases in stigma associated with welfare reform. Population groups of special interest include legal immigrants, ABAWDs, child-only cases, and households exiting TANF. An amendment to an existing contract was made to support additional data collection efforts. More... |
| | Project: Program Integrity and Improved Service to the Working Poor Under Alternative Reporting Plans | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $348,428 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To compare retrospective monthly earnings reporting and prospective quarterly reporting to determine which best serves the working poor, yields administrative cost-savings, and preserves program integrity. More... |
| | Project: Promoting the Food Stamp Program and Work through Coordinated Economic Relief Centers (CERC’s) | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $149,992 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct a process evaluation of a comprehensive service integration approach for supporting displaced workers and other families seeking work. The study will evaluate pilot projects in Virginia known as Coordinated Economic Relief Centers (CERCs), with special emphasis on the provision of food assistance. More... |
| | Project: Re-examination of the Dietary Reference Intakes for Food Energy, Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Fiber, and Potassium | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $139,281 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To review the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for food energy, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin E, fiber, and potassium to determine whether recent findings of dramatic dietary deficiencies or excesses among certain subgroups represent true dietary problems or stem from methodological weaknesses in the derivation of the new dietary reference standards. More... |
| | Project: Report to Congress on State Use of Funds To Increase Work Slots for Food Stamp Recipients | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $291,609 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Report to Congress on the implications of the increased size of the Food Stamp Employment and Training (E&T) Program on participants, especially on unemployed able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) and descriptions of how States use E&T funds and recent changes in participation. More... |
| | Project: Report to Congress on Use of Food Stamps To Purchase Dietary Supplements | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $120,250 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Report to Congress assessing the state of scientific knowledge regarding the potential value of vitamin and mineral supplements in filling nutrient gaps and the comparative impact of vitamin and mineral supplements, improved diets, and the intake of fortified foods on health status and health care costs. More... |
| | Project: Report to Congress on WIC Program Cost-Containment Practices and Their Impacts | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $1,099,293 fiscal 2001: $376,937 fiscal 2002: $12,179 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Report to Congress on the effects of cost containment practices by States such as limiting brand-named products in the WIC food package. An option was exercised to conduct the analysis and develop a mandated Report to Congress. Additional funding was provided to produce a stand-alone Executive Summary. More... |
| | Project: Research Considerations on the Use and Impact of Food Assistance Programs on Indian Reservations | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $42,666 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify existing sources of data and previous studies relating to the use and impact of food assistance programs on Indian reservations, identify the important issues related to these programs, and determine what new data on the subject would best inform the discussion while being feasible to collect. More... |
| | Project: Research Design Considerations for Integrating Cost Data with Customer Information in an Evaluation of School Meal Performance | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $55,496 fiscal 2002: $6,993 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the study design considerations, with respect to complexity, feasibility, and cost, of integrating cost data with measures of customer behavior and satisfaction in an evaluation of the performance of the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. Additional funding was provided in support of the expert workshop. More... |
| | Project: Research on Breastfed Infants Growth | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $800,000 fiscal 2000: $124,997 fiscal 2001: $25,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct research on optimal growth rates for breastfed infants. WIC program clinicians require appropriate infant growth charts to determine when, and if, breastfeeding should be supplemented with formula to support weight gain. Current infant growth charts are based predominately on formula-fed infants and, hence, may suggest faster weight gains than optimal, leading to unnecessary formula supplementation. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an amendment to the grant supports the costs of hosting a meeting of the Steering Committee for the Multicentre Growth Reference Study. More... |
| | Project: Research To Assess Links Between Diet Quality and Health | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $97,098 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To analyze and improve our understanding of the relationship between diet quality and health status over time and to determine whether overall measures of diet quality such as the USDA Healthy Eating Index (HEI) predict the occurrence of adverse health outcomes (such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, or death). More... |
| | Project: Restructuring Food Stamps To Help Working Families | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $50,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: Building on various analyses related to the New Federalism Project, this study will explore and propose options for restructuring the Food Stamp Program to supplement the incomes of working, low-income families. More... |
| | Project: RIDGE Program Overview | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $1,190,851 fiscal 1999: $750,000 fiscal 2000: $819,999 fiscal 2001: $817,940 fiscal 2002: $898,932 fiscal 2003: $898,932 fiscal 2004: $900,366 fiscal 2005: $980,275 fiscal 2006: $899,465 fiscal 2007: $899,772 fiscal 2008: $899,562 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To stimulate new and innovative research on food assistance and nutrition issues and to broaden the participation of social science scholars in these issues.
The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program—formerly known as the Small Grants Program—was established in 1998 and is administered at academic institutions and affiliated research institutes. The five institutions include two national research institutes, one regional research center and two university departments, each with expertise in the study of food assistance and nutrition programs. Each institution covers a different aspect of food assistance, nutrition, or subgroup of recipients as its primary focus. (Note that funding for the program represents the total support for the five individual centers.) More... |
| | Project: Role of Food Stamps in the Post-Reform Safety Net: The Three-City Study | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $200,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine participation in the Food Stamp Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and the well-being of low-income families during the first recession since welfare reform. This study will use a combination of longitudinal survey data from the Three-City Study (Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio) and program administrative data. More... |
| | Project: School Breakfast Program: Participation and Impacts | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $120,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To identify household and contextual factors that predict participation in the School Breakfast Program, to determine the impact of program availability on the likelihood that students eat breakfast, and to assess the impact of participation on household food security. The study will use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). More... |
| | Project: School Meal Program Participation, Food Consumption Away from School and Home, and Obesity Among Students | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $240,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the effects of participation in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program on key factors involved in childhood obesity, such as students’ dietary behaviors (consumption of beverages, low-nutrient energy-dense foods, and fruits and vegetables and caloric intake at school, at home, and away from school/home), weight, and body mass index (BMI). This research will shed light on the overall effect of school meal participation on obesity as well as distinguish the roles of the food environment both within and outside of school. More... |
| | Project: Simplified Food Stamp Program Technical Assistance | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $88,389 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct microsimulations and related analyses of alternative State-level changes to program options in the Simplified Food Stamp Programs. To evaluate the potential effects on program eligibility, participation, benefit levels, and costs. More... |
| | Project: Simulating Program Costs and Participation Under the Farm Bill and Alternative Food Assistance Policies | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $140,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine key Food Stamp Program provisions from the 2002 Farm Bill using a Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)-based microsimulation model and to improve the model’s usefulness for examining other policy options. The Food Stamp Program provisions of primary interest include simplified reporting, transitional benefits to families leaving cash welfare, and partial restoration of benefits to legal immigrants. More... |
| | Project: Social Marketing Study to Increase Food Stamp Participation Among the Elderly | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $159,927 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To utilize social marketing research methods for the development of a food stamp outreach program tailored to the elderly. After conducting 15 focus groups drawn from three ethnic groups, the project will construct an outreach marketing plan and a set of outreach materials. More... |
| | Project: Sources of Variation in State Food Stamp Participation Rates | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $202,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify the factors that lead to variation in State Food Stamp Program participation rates, which are defined as the percentage of eligible people who actually participate in the program. Multivariate techniques will be used to estimate the extent to which State differences in program policies, economic conditions, and characteristics of eligible households affect participation rates. More... |
| | Project: Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $222,000 fiscal 1999: $150,000 fiscal 2000: $200,000 fiscal 2001: $160,000 fiscal 2002: $180,000 fiscal 2003: $180,000 fiscal 2004: $180,000 fiscal 2005: $230,000 fiscal 2006: $180,000 fiscal 2007: $180,000 fiscal 2008: $180,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: The Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University focuses on food assistance research as it affects rural people, families, and communities in the South. The Center has also initiated a dialogue among scholars through the establishment of a Rural South Food Assistance Research Task Force. The Task Force meets to articulate research priorities on food assistance-related issues. More... |
| | Project: State Predictors of Household Food Security | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $100,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To investigate the relationship between household and community food security by analyzing inter-state variations in USDA measures of food insecurity. The analysis will use data from the 1998-2000 Current Population Survey- Food Security Supplements together with State employment, food assistance, and food cost data. More... |
| | Project: State Trends in Food Stamp Program Eligibility and Participation Among Elderly Individuals | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $179,145 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine State trends in Food Stamp Program (FSP) eligibility and participation among elderly individuals. The study will compare and assess the characteristics of elderly FSP participants and eligibles to understand why some groups of elderly individuals do not participate and determine if some groups have a greater need for nutrition assistance than others. More... |
| | Project: Structural Change in the Food Stamp Program Caseload Equation | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To determine whether the relationship between Food Stamp Program (FSP) caseloads and aggregate economic activity (particularly, the unemployment rate and total nonfarm employment) has changed structurally. Historically, FSP caseloads have been positively correlated with aggregate economic activity as measured by the unemployment rate. This relationship is useful in explaining fluctuations in caseloads and predicting future caseload levels and budget requirements. Over time, however, the quantitative relationship between FSP caseloads and the unemployment rate appears to have changed. This study will evaluate the ability of regressions of the FSP caseload equation that includes measures of economic activity to explain year-to-year changes in caseloads. More... |
| | Project: Studies of Households Who Leave the Food Stamp Program | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $1,488,074 fiscal 1999: $70,000 fiscal 2000: $100,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine the status of households and individuals who leave the Food Stamp Program. Of particular interest are able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 50 without dependents, (ABAWDs) because the Food Stamp Program changes were the strictest for this group. The analysis will focus on individuals’ ability to obtain employment, the support provided by their earnings and other income sources, and support provided by public and/or private programs. More... |
| | Project: Study of Locality, Agency, and Individual Characteristics Affecting Food Stamp Program Participation in Virginia | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $80,000 fiscal 2006: $10,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine the locality, agency, and individual level facilitators and barriers to Food Stamp Program participation in Virginia localities. More... |
| | Project: Study of Re-Engineering the Welfare System | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $362,443 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To study the extent and nature of States’ welfare administrative re-engineering efforts as they affect the Food Stamp Program administrative processes. These include changes associated with welfare reform that effect either the interaction between food stamp applicants and caseworkers or the efficiency or the integrity of the program. The focus of the study will be on those parts of the States’ administrative practices that are innovations to or departures from prior practices. More... |
| | Project: Study of School Food Authority Characteristics, Costs, and Revenues: Data Collection and Analysis | | Award year: 2004 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2004: $364,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To collect data on the operating characteristics, costs, and revenues of a national sample of School Food Authorities (SFAs). The project will also support an analysis of the data obtained that will (a) describe the environmental and operational characteristics of SFAs, (b) describe the costs, revenues, outputs, and financial practices of SFAs, and (c) model the relationship of SFA costs to production of reimbursable meals, other outputs, and SFA characteristics. More... |
| | Project: Study of the Impact of a Rental Subsidy on Food Security of Welfare-Eligible Families | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $60,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the impact of rental assistance on the well-being of welfare-eligible families. The Welfare to Work Voucher Program, established in 1999, provided housing vouchers to help improve housing location of families eligible for participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This study assesses how variation in receipt of a housing voucher affects household food security and food expenditures. More... |
| | Project: Summer Feeding Integrity Study: Design, Cost, and Feasibility Plan | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $412,246 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To obtain a design, cost, and evaluation study that considers options for improving estimates of sponsor, site, and participant characteristics in the Summer Food Service Program. The study will consider alternative sampling frames, questionnaire design, modes for collecting information, time frames for data collection, and implications for implementation costs. More... |
| | Project: Summer Food Service Program Study | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $2,207,501 fiscal 2002: $126,279 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct the first nationally representative study in 15 years of the Summer Food Service Program. The study will obtain detailed information at the State, sponsor, and site levels on program operations and administration and on meal characteristics. Additional funding was provided to integrate site and sponsor data with an electronic database and GIS coding. More... |
| | Project: Supermarket Characteristics and Operating Costs in Low-Income Areas | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $40,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the characteristics and operating costs of supermarkets in low-income areas in comparison with those in higher-income areas including estimating the empirical relationship between store characteristics and operating costs. More... |
| | Project: Supporting Families After Welfare Reform: Access to Medicaid, the Food Stamp Program (FSP), and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $203,591 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To help States and large counties solve problems in their eligibility processes that make it difficult for low-income families to access and retain program benefits. An interagency transfer was made to the Administration for Children and Families (HHS) to provide support for a Food Stamp Program component in a project that addresses Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). More... |
| | Project: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)-Leavers Use of Food Stamps | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $250,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To determine the status of TANF recipients after they leave the TANF caseload, eligible families who are diverted before being enrolled in TANF, or eligible families who fail to enroll in TANF. The analysis will include former recipients/eligibles participating in the Food Stamp Program and the role that food stamps play in their overall wellbeing with particular focus on former recipients/eligibles that reside in nonmetropolitan areas. The analysis will address individuals ability to obtain employment and the support provided by their earnings, public programs besides TANF and food stamps, and other programs. More... |
| | Project: The Associations Among Food Assistance Program Participation, Food Security, and Child and Maternal Health Disparities | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $108,981 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine children 3 years and younger for associations among food assistance program participation, food security, and health outcomes using multistate, multiyear clinical pediatric data. More... |
| | Project: The Changing Welfare System in Rural Areas | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $249,617 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This work provides an improved understanding of the challenges facing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food assistance programs and other programs in rural areas, and determines the differences, if any, in policies and practices for delivery of program benefits to rural and urban residents. Changes in food assistance and other welfare programs as a consequence of welfare reform may not have the same effect in urban and rural areas because of differences in access to transportation, welfare offices, child care, informal social support networks, and jobs. In addition, policies and practices may be different in largely rural States. More... |
| | Project: The Complementary Roles of Public and Private Assistance | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $110,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the interactions of the receipts of private and public assistance by low-income families in the Kansas City metropolitan area, using trends to compare the individual characteristics associated with different patterns of use. More... |
| | Project: The Consequences of Welfare Reform and Economic Change for the FSP and the Economy as a Whole | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $374,229 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: The objective of this research is to examine the linkages between the Food Stamp Program (FSP), other welfare programs, and the general economy. More... |
| | Project: The Costs of Delivering Benefits Through the Food Stamp Program as Compared With Other Major Benefit Programs | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $40,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To compare the costs of delivering benefits to families through the Food Stamp Program with costs in other major benefits programs, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. Costs of benefit delivery to be examined include administrative costs, error rates, recipient burden, and nonparticipation by eligible families. More... |
| | Project: The Determinants of Overweight and Obesity Among Low-Income Children | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $124,999 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the relationships between food insufficiency and obesity among low-income children. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), the study will examine the impact of household food insufficiency status and other factors on the likelihood of being overweight for children whose families receive WIC or food stamps compared with children in nonrecipient households. More... |
| | Project: The Ecological Predictors and Development Outcomes of Persistent Childhood Obesity | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $181,485 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To identify the school, family, parent, and child predictors of persistent childhood obesity and to assess the health, social, emotional, and academic outcomes of persistent childhood obesity. More... |
| | Project: The Economic Impact of School Meal Certification Approaches on the Uptake of Free- and Reduced-Price Meals | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $185,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the effects of school- and student-level factors on participation in the USDA school meal programs, using data from the Food and Nutrition Service’s Access, Participation, Eligibility, and Certification Study. School-level factors include whether students who are certified for free or reduced-price meals actually participate (i.e., take the meals), use of direct certification, Provision 2 or 3 status, and use of electronic meal payment technology. Student-level factors include household economic, demographic, and food security status, as well as child and parent attitude toward school meals. Reported household school meal certification and participation will also be compared with school administrative data, adding to the understanding of accuracy of program participation reporting. More... |
| | Project: The Economics of Obesity in the NLSY79 Panel | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $50,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the economic factors affecting obesity in adults using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The study will build upon previous research by adding geo-coded local market conditions and other related factors. More... |
| | Project: The Effect of WIC on Household Food Expenditures: Assessing Available Data | | Award year: 2008 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2008: $50,050 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the viability and suitability of using ACNielsen Homescan data to analyze the effects of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on household food purchases. ACNielsen Homescan is a consumer-based survey of food purchases collected from a large, national panel of households. Survey participants use a customized electronic device in their homes to scan the barcodes of the products they purchase and to record the price, quantity purchased, date purchased, and type of store where purchased. More... |
| | Project: The Effects of Subsidized School Meals on Children's Diet Quality | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $140,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the quality of the diets of school meal participants and nonparticipants, using the updated version of USDA’s Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2005). Data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (SNDA-III) will be analyzed to determine the effect of school meal participation on students’ diet quality. More... |
| | Project: The Effects of Welfare Implementation on Food Stamp Caseloads | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $200,079 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine local-level institutional changes in program delivery that may have contributed to caseload decline for the Food Stamp Program. The study focuses on such changes as the growing institutional separation between food stamp and cash welfare administrative systems and the increasing complexity of the programs. More... |
| | Project: The Evaluation of EBT Customer Service Waivers on Recipients | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $647,255 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To identify and estimate the occurrence of client service problems associated with EBT customer service waivers, and assess clients respond. More... |
| | Project: The Extent of Trafficking in the Food Stamp Program After Welfare Reform | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $199,921 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To update estimates of food stamp trafficking using current data and to provide longitudinal comparison of the prevalence of trafficking before and shortly after initial implementation of welfare reform. More... |
| | Project: The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations: Still "An Acceptable Alternative" to Food Stamps? | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $267,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To compare the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and the Food Stamp Program with regard to eligibility, participation, administration, and possible effects on health and nutrition. The project will combine qualitative data obtained from in-depth site visits to four tribal reservations with quantitative analyses of both program administrative data and survey data obtained from the Current Population Survey, the Navajo Health and Nutrition Survey, and the California Health Interview Survey. More... |
| | Project: The Impacts of Welfare Reform and the Macroeconomy on Food Stamp Caseloads and Expenditures | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $75,000 fiscal 2000: $15,000 fiscal 2001: $39,393 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This project addresses the following questions about food stamp caseloads and expenditures: How cyclically sensitive are food stamp caseloads and expenditures to changes in local labor market conditions? How do State-specific differences in pre- and post-Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Food Stamp Program parameters affect food stamp caseloads and expenditures? Are there interactive effects between the business cycle and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program parameters on food stamp caseloads and expenditures? An amendment to this project examines consumption stabilization and smoothing associated with food stamp benefits. More... |
| | Project: The Multiple Contexts of Food Insecurity: Evaluating the Impact on Child Energy Balance | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $77,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine the relationships among local food environment, household food insecurity, and elementary school children’s energy balance, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Additionally, the study will investigate how changes in community characteristics and food insecurity affect changes in child body mass index (BMI). More... |
| | Project: The Role of Time Use in Promoting Healthy Energy Balance | | Award year: 2007 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $100,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine trends in time use, energy expenditure, and food consumption to gain insights into the changes in energy balance that have led to the increased prevalence of obesity. The project will assess the effect of economic factors such as wage rates, food stamp eligibility/participation, prices, and income, on energy balance-related time use, drawing on data from the 2006 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the 1975-76 Time Use in Economic and Social Accounts Study. More... |
| | Project: Time Series Analysis of Food Stamp Program Caseloads | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $20,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To evaluate the time series properties of Food Stamp Program caseloads from the late 1970's to 1999. This study focuses on testing for structural shifts over this time period, by estimating a cointegrated long-run relationship and error correction specification within the framework of structural change. More... |
| | Project: Trends in Food Stamp Program Certification Costs, 1989-2001 | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $245,143 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine the trends and composition of Food Stamp Program administrative costs, focusing on certification costs, the largest component, and the relationship between the number of participants and administrative cost per participant. More... |
| | Project: Understanding Child Nutrition in the Year 2000: Dynamic Shifts and Their Determinants | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $200,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine factors that affect the quality of children's diets, including snacking behaviors, away-from-home food intake behavior, the role of maternal labor force participation, and the influence of food and nutrition assistance programs. More... |
| | Project: Understanding Determinants of Food Assistance Program Participation Decisions on Indian Reservations: A Framework for Program Assessment | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $35,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To develop a study plan, methodology, and instrumentation that addresses the research question: What determines the decision of Native Americans on reservations to participate in USDA food assistance programs? Issues of interest will include consumer valuation of USDA commodity donations; how choices are made between participation in the Food Stamp Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations; and the role of food prices, store access, and nutrition/health information in food consumption decisions of Native Americans. More... |
| | Project: Understanding Food Choices and Dietary Decisions: A Behavioral Approach | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $75,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To sponsor a workshop that brings together behavioral economists, psychologists, and decision science experts in a cross-cutting effort to enhance the economic analysis of food choices, dietary behavior, and diet-related health outcomes, with a special focus on decisionmaking among low-income people. More... |
| | Project: Understanding Program Participation Decisions of the Working Poor | | Award year: 2001 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2001: $98,452 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine why some poor working families with children do not participate in the Food Stamp Program even when eligible to do so, exploring the use of linked administrative data for monitoring nonparticipation. More... |
| | Project: Understanding the Errors in Children’s Dietary Recalls | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $180,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine two issues that pertain to a child’s self-reported dietary intake, this study will examine the extent to which children confuse items consumed on a different days and the similarity between accuracy at the nutrient level and the food item level. More... |
| | Project: United States Trends in Associations of Eating Patterns with BMI throughout the Lifecycle | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $228,250 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine trends in associations between eating patterns and obesity and the relative strength of the associations for different age groups. The study will provide insight into lifecyle changes in eating patterns, changes in the relationships between eating patterns and Body Mass Index measures across age groups, and the changes’ potential contribution to the U.S. obesity epidemic. More... |
| | Project: Welfare and Food Assistance at the State Level: Methods and Iowa Estimates | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $233,170 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This work is designed to better understand economic and programmatic forces affecting low-income households in Iowa under the new welfare policy, and to assess the impact of Iowa's system of welfare programs on Federal food assistance programs in the State. More... |
| | Project: Welfare Reform Effects on Food Assistance Use and Family Well-Being | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $300,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: This work examines three aspects of the effects of welfare reform: the proportion of low-income families and single individuals who received food assistance before and after welfare reform and the characteristics of food assistance recipients before and after welfare reform; changes in the pattern of spells of cash public assistance and food-stamp receipt; and changes in economic resources and food expenditures of low-income individuals and families and changes in food insecurity between 1997 and 1999 among low-income families with children under age 13. More... |
| | Project: Welfare Transitions and Food Sufficiency: Evidence from South Carolina | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $149,994 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine food adequacy and other basic measures of well-being among current and former welfare recipients in South Carolina’s Family Independence (FI) program. The study will also examine patterns of Food Stamp Program use and other types of in-kind assistance for these groups and the role that non-cash assistance plays in maintaining families’ well-being as they transition off of welfare. More... |
| | Project: What Explains Recent Changes in Food Stamp Program Caseloads? | | Award year: 1999 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1999: $96,807 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To estimate the impacts on Food Stamp Program caseloads of economic trends, demographic changes and welfare reform from the late 1970's to 1998. The study will use variation across time and States to disentangle the effects. More... |
| | Project: Where Is the Threshold? Estimation of the Money-Time Threshold for Food Stamp Participants | | Award year: 2006 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2006: $100,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To assess the tradeoffs between time and money in poverty thresholds for households participating in the Food Stamp Program. This project will integrate the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement with the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) Food and Eating Module for use in the econometric analysis. More... |
| | Project: WIC and the Economics of Infant Formula Contracts, Rebates, and Wholesale Prices | | Award year: 2003 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2003: $70,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To examine why some States achieve greater cost savings from the WIC infant formula rebate program than others and to determine whether the rebates affect the wholesale price of infant formula. More... |
| | Project: WIC Eligibility Expert Review Panel Study | | Award year: 2000 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2000: $250,000 fiscal 2001: $350,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To provide support for a National Academy of Sciences committee to review methods and procedures for estimating annually the number of people eligible for the Special Supplement Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and to identify ways to improve WIC eligibility and participation estimates. Phase Two will assess procedural improvements for estimates of eligible infants and children, develop procedures for estimates of eligible women, and consider issues related to participation levels. More... |
| | Project: WIC General Analysis Project (GAP) | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $560,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To conduct research and analysis of the WIC Program to support program and policy decisions, including research on (1) estimates of WIC eligibility, (2) changes in WIC participant characteristics over time, and (3) nutrient, health risk, and demographic characteristics of WIC participants and eligible nonparticipants. More... |
| | Project: WIC Innovative Practices Study | | Award year: 2002 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2002: $149,747 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To examine and present detailed information on a range of innovations and promising programs in WIC practices. More... |
| | Project: WIC Supplemental Food Package Analysis | | Award year: 1998 | | Amount of award, fiscal 1998: $76,000 | | Status : Completed | | Objective: To review the food packages included in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in light of current nutritional recommendations and ensure that the WIC food package is research-based and offers program recipients the nutritional supplementation most tailored to their needs. More... |
| | Project: WIC’s Effect on Prices of Infant Formula | | Award year: 2005 | | Amount of award, fiscal 2005: $25,000 | | Status : Ongoing | | Objective: To analyze the impact of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on infant formula prices to government agencies and to consumers. This analysis will use Information Resources, Inc., data on household purchases of infant formula to estimate a system of demand equations for various brands of infant formula. More... |
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