USDA Awards $2 Million for Nutrition Education and Obesity Research

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded $2 million in grants recently to support research on nutrient education and obesity prevention for disadvantaged children and families.

“Childhood obesity rates in America have tripled over the past three decades,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “While we are beginning to see promising signs of progress with the epidemic leveling off in children, these grants will help evaluate and strengthen existing nutrition education and obesity prevention efforts to help ensure this progress continues.”

Funding has been granted to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Utah State University in Logan, UT. The funding will help create two additional Regional Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Centers of Excellence (RNECE).

“With one-third of our nation’s children overweight or obese, this issue stands out as one of the greatest health challenges facing our country,” said USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Audrey Rowe. “As we invest in our nation’s health it is important we leverage partners and innovative strategies to help children from low-income families grow and develop into healthy adults.”

The RNECE were established in 2014 with one center at each of NIFA’s four administrative regions are a result of the partnership between the USDA and partnering universities.