USDA grants available

[Pat McKinney]

The Food and Consumer Service (FCS) of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture is sponsoring a competition for grants entitled:
GRANTS FOR METHODOLOGY AND INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR EVALUATION
OF NUTRITION EDUCATION INTERVENTIONS

FCS is aware that researchers currently have difficulty in
evaluating the outcomes of nutrition interventions because
traditional methods and instruments such as food records, food
recalls and food frequencies are costly, a significant burden to
respondents, and may not be appropriate for low-literacy
individuals.  In addition the results they yield may not be
sufficiently sensitive to detect behavioral change outcomes.

FCS is therefore sponsoring a competition for grants for methods
and instruments that the research community (government,
academicians, and other researchers) can use to assess food
related behavior changes resulting from nutrition education
interventions.  

The objective of these grants is to develop and validate the
methodology and instruments that can assess food related behavior
changes, including household level food acquisitions, resulting
from nutrition education interventions.  The methodology and
instruments shall be designed to minimize respondent burden, be
relatively brief, inexpensive to use, and be appropriate for the
low-income population and for the intended outcomes.

Although the following are areas of interest to the Agency, the
grantee may propose other approaches to meet the stated
objective.

    Intermediate indicators or antecedent variables as measures
     of behavior change 

    Behavioral intention as an indicator of behavior change

    The validity of self-reported behavior change instruments

    Measures of behavior change relative to diet variety, total
     diet and specific nutrient and/or food sources such as
     fruits/vegetables, fats, fiber, grains 

    Innovative uses of modern technology to assess changes in
     household food use and food acquisition patterns 

    Innovative uses of modern technology to assess changes in
     individual food intake 

    Using existing data sources such as CSFII or the DHKS to
     develop new methodologies and instruments to assess behavior
     changes

    Methods to use food marketing data to assess community level
     changes in food purchasing patterns

Length of Grant:  The grants are intended to assist research that
can be completed in eighteen months or less.

Funding: FCS expects to fund three to 15 grants selected for
award.  No grant shall exceed $200,000; FCS expects most grants
to fall within $50,000 and $100,000, unless a proposal is
particularly compelling.

Application Deadline:  August 16, 1996

Obtaining the Request for Application (RFA):  The complete RFA
package, description and all necessary forms are contained in a
single WordPerfect 5.1 file which can be obtained as follows:

1)  Access the FCS Home Page on the World Wide Web at:

          http://www.usda.gov/fcs
     
The file is located on the "Supplemental List" in the FCS Library
of Files under the name 960702.wp and title:

FCS Seeks Applications for Grants for Methodology and Instrument
Development for Evaluation of Nutrition Education Interventions. 
Request for Application (RFA) encourages research community
(government, academicians and other researchers) to apply for
grants to assess food-related behavior changes resulting from
nutrition education interventions targeted to low-income
individuals and families. 

Application deadline: August 16, 1996

2)  Access through FedWorld as follows:

- Set modem parity to none, data bits to 8 and stop bit to 1
- Set terminal emulation to ANSI
- Set duplex to full
- Set communication software to dial FedWorld at (703) 321-3339

After connecting to FedWorld from the main menu, select option D,
Health, Safety and Nutrition Mall, then choose option C, Food and
Consumer Service.

The file is located in the FCS Library of Files under the same
name and title as shown above.

3)  If you cannot access the RFA using either method described
above, you may facsimile or send a written request with return
label to:

     U.S.D.A., Food and Consumer Service
     Contract Management Branch, ASD
     Attn:  Jorge Bernardo
     3101 Park Center Drive Room 914
     Alexandria, VA 22302
     FAX (703) 305-2071

All requests for information must be directed to Jorge Bernado in
the Contract Management Branch.  I cannot respond directly to any
questions.

     Pat McKinney, M.S., R.D.
     Program Analyst
     Office of Analysis and Evaluation
     Food and Consumer Service
     USDA
     pat_mckinney at fcs.usda.gov