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Contact:
Mary Reardon (202) 694-5136
USDA Awards $1.8 Million for Research on Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs
WASHINGTON, October 23, 2008—Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced almost $1.8 million in grant and cooperative agreement awards in eight States and the District of Columbia for research on food and nutrition assistance.
The goal of the research is to examine, evaluate, and enhance USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs. The grants and cooperative agreements will fund projects in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
The projects will examine a number of program-related issues, including:
- whether there is any relationship between receiving food stamps during childhood and adult outcomes including Body Mass Index (BMI), food insecurity, health, physical activity levels, and various economic outcomes;
- State trends in Food Stamp Program eligibility and participation among elderly individuals to understand why some groups of elderly individuals do not participate;
- impact of the 2007 revisions in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages on participant food choices and food package costs;
- effect of the 2007 revisions in the WIC food packages on number, type, and location of WIC-authorized vendors and on access to affordable healthy foods by low-income families in Connecticut;
- the association between childhood obesity and the presence of household routines around family meals, sleep, television, and outdoor play, and whether these associations differ by WIC eligibility status;
- any relative contributions of increased immigration, both legal and unauthorized, to increased participation in the WIC and the National School Lunch Program;
- 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;
- the financial, participation, attendance, health, behavioral, and academic effects associated with a change from a universal-free to an eligibility-based School Breakfast Program;
- shortrun and longrun effects on childhood obesity of participating in three Federal food assistance programs—National School Lunch, School Breakfast, and Food Stamp Programs.
The research projects are competitively awarded by the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP), administered by USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS). FANRP studies and evaluates the performance of, and the issues related to, the Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; and Child Nutrition Programs.
Following is a complete list of 2008 awards and recipients. Further information is available on the web at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodNutritionAssistance/Compgrants.htm or from program contact Vic Oliveira at (202) 694-5434; email: victor@ers.usda.gov
FANRP Research Funding Opportunities: 2008 Awards
FANRP's competitive grants and cooperative agreements program made awards in 2008 to fund research in the following areas: 1) food choices: economic determinants and consequences; 2) economic incentives and policy choices in food assistance programs; and 3) food assistance as an economic safety net. The program is publicly announced and competitively awarded through the use of peer review panels. Click here to view the project descriptions at a glance.
Food Choices: Economic Determinants and Consequences:
Long-Term Effects of Food Stamp Receipt During Childhood on Adult Outcomes
Thomas Vartanian; Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
This study will assess whether the effects of growing up in food stamp households are felt into adulthood. Longitudinal data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics (PSID) will be used to see if receiving food stamps during childhood affects adult outcomes, such as Body Mass Index (BMI), food insecurity, health, physical activity levels, and various economic outcomes. 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.
Grant: $110,605
Access to Healthy Foods: The Role of Market Competition, WIC Policy, and Vendor Attitudes
Marlene Schwartz; Yale University, New Haven, CT
This study will 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 implementation of the WIC food package revisions.
Grant: $229,611
Household Routines and the Development of Obesity in U.S. Preschool Children
Sarah Anderson; Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
This project will 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.
Grant: $155,000
The Effect of WIC on Household Food Expenditures: Assessing Available Data
Helen Jensen; Iowa State University, Ames, IA
This study will assess the viability and suitability of using ACNielsen Homescan data to analyze 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.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $50,050
Economic Incentives in Food Assistance Programs:
Effects of Changes in WIC Food Packages on Redemptions
Loren Bell; Altarum Institute, Ann Arbor, MI
This study will 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, as well as 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.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $237,873
State Trends in Food Stamp Program Eligibility and Participation Among Elderly Individuals
Karen Cunnyngham; Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ
This project will 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 to determine if some groups have a greater need for nutrition assistance than others.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $179,145
Effects of Change From Universal-Free to Eligibility-Based School Breakfast Program
David Ribar; University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
This study will investigate the effects--financial, participation, attendance, health, behavioral, and academic--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.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $250,000
Food Assistance as an Economic Safety Net:
Effects on Childhood Obesity of Participation in Multiple Nutrition Assistance Programs
Rusty Tchernis; Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
This study will 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—using longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K). Impacts of both single and multiple program participation will be estimated.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $200,000
Effects of Immigration on WIC and National School Lunch Program Caseloads
Randy Capps; The Urban Institute, Washington, DC
This project estimates 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).
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $144,765
Children’s Food Security and Intakes from School Meals
Anne Gordon; Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ
This study will 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).
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $200,406
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