| Program
Design and Operations |
An Assessment of the Impact of Medicaid Managed Care on WIC
Program Coordination with Primary Care Services
Loren Bell
Health Systems Research, Inc. Washington, DC
This study identifies State-level efforts to support coordination
between WIC programs and primary care services that are provided
through Medicaid managed care, examines the effects of various Medicaid
managed care models on the coordination efforts between those models
and different models of WIC service delivery, and identifies outcome
indicators and data sources.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $291,052
WIC Innovative Practices Study
Anne Gordon
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Princeton, NJ
This study will describe a range of innovations in WIC practices
already in place and present detailed information on selected promising
programs. The study will address three research questions: What
innovative practices exist? Under what circumstances were these
practices implemented? Are these local practices applicable to WIC
programs in other areas? WIC programs of interest include those
that promote breastfeeding, immunization and well-child care, that
address obesity prevention, or that involve home visitation services.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $149,747
Trends in Food Stamp Program Certification Costs,
1989-2001
Christopher Logan
Abt Associates, Inc. Cambridge, MA
This project will examine the trends and composition of Food Stamp
Program (FSP) administrative costs, focusing on certification costs
the largest component. It will examine the relationship between
the number of participants and administrative cost per participant.
Data on State administrative costs from the Integrated Information
System for 1989-2001 will be analyzed to determine the composition
of these costs, the variation among States in each cost component
and in overall costs, and the cost trends over time among States.
The FSP's Quality Control data for 1989-2001 will be analyzed to
construct annual State-level summary measures of major certification
tasks, participant characteristics, and payment error rates. A pooled
time-series cross-section model of certification costs per participant
will be estimated at the State level using the Quality Control data.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $245,143
Implementation of Options and Waivers to Increase
Access to the Food Stamp Program
Nancy Wemmerus
Mathematica Policy Resesarch, Inc. Princeton, NJ
Options and waivers were introduced for States to increase access
to the Food Stamp Program and reduce the reporting burden on working
families while minimizing the potential for payment errors. The
options include expanding categorical eligibility, simplifying reporting
requirements, and providing transitional benefits. This project
will examine how the new options and waivers are being implemented
and assess their effects on program operations, costs, and participation.
It will address these issues through case studies of four local
welfare offices in States that have fully implemented options and
waivers. The case studies will include in-depth interviews with
food stamp administrators and caseworkers, reviews of the results
of focus groups with food stamp recipients, and analysis of administrative
records in the four sites.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $248,229
back
to table
| Food
Assistance as a Safety Net |
State Predictors of Household Food Security
Judi Bartfeld
University of Wisconsin, Madison. Madison, WI
This study will 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
(CPS-FSS) together with state employment, food assistance, and food
cost data. Multivariate and hierarchical modeling techniques will
be applied to identify the influence of contextual factors on food
security at the State and local levels. The results will provide
information to citizens and policymakers when making decisions about
strategies to reduce food-related hardships.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $100,000
Food Security, Behavior Problems and Health
Among Kindergarten and First-Grade Children in the Early Childhood
Longitudinal Survey (ECLS) Data
John Cook
Boston Medical Center. Boston, MA
The project will examine the relationships among food security,
childhood behavior problems, health, and educational achievement.
Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistical methods will
be used to analyze data from the kindergarten and first grade cycles
of 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.
Grant: $214,768
Welfare Transitions and Food Sufficiency: Evidence
from South Carolina
David Ribar
The George Washington University. Washington, DC
This study will examine food adequacy and other basic measures
of well-being among current and former welfare recipients in South
Carolina's Family Independence program. It will also examine patterns
of food stamp 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. The study
will use administrative data on program participation and earnings
as well as survey data on families' well-being that were collected
as part of ongoing evaluations of the Family Independence program.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $149,994
back
to table
Development of Eating Patterns and Obesity
in Black Girls
Patricia Crawford
University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, CA
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. This study will examine the relationship between patterns
of dietary intakes based on food groupings and weight outcomes at
three stages of adolescence: pre/early adolescence (9-11 years),
mid-adolescence (12-14 years) and late adolescence (15-19 years).
A comprehensive database of dietary patterns will be created from
food intake data gathered over a 10-year period from 1213 black
girls who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's
Growth and Health Study (NGHS), the largest longitudinal study of
black adolescent females.
Grant: $399,943
U.S. Trends in Associations of Eating Patterns
with BMI throughout the Lifecycle
Megan McCrory
Tufts University. Boston, MA
Over the past 25 years, the prevalence of overweight and obesity
has increased tremendously in the United States in all age groups.
Simultaneously, eating patterns—such as snacking, soft drink
consumption, and eating away from home—also have changed. While
it has been suggested that shifting trends in eating patterns have
caused the increasing prevalence of obesity, a direct link has not
been well-established. This study will use data from the Nationwide
Food Consumption Survey 1977-78, and the Continuing Survey of Food
Intakes by Individuals 1989-91, 1994-96, and 1998, 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 lifecycle 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.
Grant: $228,250
back
to table
| Eating
Patterns, Diet Quality, and Health Outcomes |
Evaluation of Policy Change on Middle School Student Lunch Consumption
Karen Cullen
Baylor College of Medicine. Houston, TX
The goal of this project is to document consumption by middle
school students of meals provided by the National School Lunch Program,
snack bars, and vending machines; weight status; and lunch consumption
of fat, total energy, and fruits and vegetables. The project will
examine conditions before and after a district policy change in
Pasadena, Texas that enforces an existing ban on the availability
of certain competitive foods being available during lunch. Lunch
food records have already been collected prior to the change as
part of a separate study. Lunch records and other data will be collected
during the 2002-2003 school year from seven middle schools, containing
4000 students, in order to test several hypotheses about the impact
of the policy change.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $179,396
Eating Patterns and Diet Quality in Young Adults
Theresa Nicklas
Baylor College of Medicine. Houston, TX
This project will identify eating pattern typologies associated
with diet quality in young adults, and examine the linkages between
the identified eating pattern typologies and socioeconomic, demographic,
and lifestyle characteristics. It will also examine the associations
among eating patterns, overall diet quality, and obesity. Using
the Bogalusa Heart Study database, the project will study 1,416
young adults from differing racial backgrounds who participated
in a 1995-96 cross-sectional survey.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $150,000
back
to table
Understanding the Errors in Children's Dietary Recalls
Suzanne Baxter
Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Research Institute, Inc. Augusta,
GA
The goal of this project is to help improve dietary assessment
methods by better understanding the mistakes made by children when
asked to recall their food intake. The study will examine two research
questions: First, when reporting dietary intake on a given day,
to what extent do children confuse items consumed that day with
items they could have consumed another day? Second, for children's
dietary recalls, to what extent does accuracy assessed at the nutrient
level parallel accuracy assessed at the food item level? For each
research question, children's Body Mass Index will be included in
analyses to identify its potential relationship with recall errors.
Grant: $180,000
back to table
|
