Administer Research-Initiated Grants for Research on the WIC Program

Posted by on June 27, 2011

Administer Research-Initiated Grants for Research on the WIC Program

Background

FNS announces the availability of funds for the 3 above grant opportunities referred to as Attachments 1 through 3, involving researcher-initiated projects to demonstrate creative approaches to evaluate or develop aspects of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), coordinate activities among researchers, and widely disseminate findings.

WIC was established to counteract the negative effects of poverty and nutritional risk on prenatal and pediatric health and provides a combination of direct nutritional supplementation; nutrition education and counseling; and increased access to health care and social service providers for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to the age of five years. States, U.S. territories and Indian Tribal Organizations receive Federal grants which are used to cover the cost of foods purchased with WIC benefits, along with specified nutrition services and administrative costs.

Average WIC monthly participation in 2010 was 9.2 million, up from 8.0 million in 2005. Children ages 1 to 4 years comprise about a half of WIC participants, while women and infants each are about a quarter of the participants. Currently, WIC serves half of the infants in the United States and roughly one-third of mothers in their prenatal period. Over half of the pregnant women participating in WIC enroll in their first trimester.

July 25, 2011     Applications for Full Grant due to FNS

http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/menu/DemoProjects/WICResearch/WICResearchGrant.htm