USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced more than $6.6 million for 10 grants to combat childhood obesity, a public health issue that affects one in five school-aged children. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

“Healthy habits start with families,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “With these NIFA investments, we are helping at-risk families make lifestyle changes that will add up to a lifetime of better health for their children.”

AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. The AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area supports projects to gain a better understanding of the factors behind childhood weight gain, to develop and expand effective interventions, and to train more parents, caregivers, and educators to promote childhood obesity prevention.

Fiscal year 2017 grants include:

Among these FY17 projects is an online educational program offered by Rutgers University to help parents promote healthy eating and home environments among preschool-age children. Vanderbilt University will develop and test a smartphone application that provides culturally appropriate shopping and nutrition education for low-income women with young children.

More information on these projects is available on the NIFA website. 

To date, NIFA has invested more than $168 million through the AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area.

Among previously funded projects, Colorado State University is conducting an education and extension project to improve health behaviors of 4-year-old children in five Head Start centers across eastern Colorado. The project measures preschoolers’ willingness to try new foods and encourages more physical activity.

A Cornell University project is improving the lunch room experience by examining how environmental changes affect the selection and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Researchers analyzed consumption patterns by using tray waste data at 24 urban, rural, and suburban middle school cafeterias in New York State.

Source: USDA NIFA