2003 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it? The Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) area of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi is characterized by high rates of poverty, low education attainment, and food insecurity. There is a high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, anemia, and heart disease, all of which are influenced by nutrition. We are attempting to resolve these problems through the efforts of the Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI). The Delta NIRI consortium consists of scientists from Alcorn State University, Alcorn State, MS (ASU); Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR (ACHRI); Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA (PBRC); Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA (SU); The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR (UAPB); The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS (USM); and The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of USDA, Little Rock, AR. The ARS has initiated agreements with other scientists with needed expertise for specific research requirements. For example: The Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) in Houston is collaborating by providing a Baylor Medical Center scientist with nutrition epidemiology skills; the Human Nutrition Research Center (HNRC) at Tufts University in Boston is providing expertise on the development of an original adult food frequency questionnaire; and the Iowa State University at Ames has contributed through a rural sociologist with specific skills in community development. These scientists participate fully in the Delta NIRI Consortium. The Consortium is diverse, including minorities, many disciplines (nutrition, food science, family economics, sociology, medicine, agriculture, etc.), and a variety of professionals (nutritionists, pediatricians, nurses, food scientists, sociologists, agriculture economists, etc.). This diversity is necessary because of the complexity of the food problems, poverty, isolation, and low educational attainment in the Delta. The Consortium is evaluating the nutritional health in the Lower Delta, to identify nutritionally responsive problems, and to design and evaluate interventions that may be sustained at the community level and implemented on a larger scale in similar areas of the United States. In addition, a capacity building goal is to increase and continue expertise within each Partner to enhance their teaching and research skills in the areas of food, nutrition, and health in order to sustain successful interventions in this high-risk population. 2.How serious is the problem? Why does it matter? Rates of rural poverty and nutrition-related chronic diseases in the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) are among the nation's highest. Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana traditionally rank in or near the bottom in health rankings of the United States and continue to worsen compared with the other states. Food insecurity is higher in each of these states than the average for the US and 2½ times the national average in the LMD. The area is underserved by food and nutrition and other health professionals. National surveys have not included this area in their sampling of the US. Therefore, information on the food intake, nutrition-related health problems, and food access and security within the area is scarce to nonexistent. The burden of food-related health problems is carried by minority, low-income, and educationally disadvantaged individuals and families in the communities of the Delta. The presence of these problems severely limits the quality of life, productivity, and the future of this at-risk population and at the same time propels them into the high-user category for nutrition assistance programs and high-cost health care and treatment of nutrition-related disease. 3.How does it relate to the National Program(s) and National Program Component(s) to which it has been assigned? The National Program in Human Nutrition, #107, has five specific program components that are being addressed by this research: nutrition monitoring; composition of the diet; nutritional needs of a diverse population; diet, genetics, lifestyle, and the prevention of obesity and chronic disease; and health-promoting intervention strategies for targeted populations. The Delta NIRI provides the USDA, ARS with a unique opportunity to strengthen existing efforts to improve the nutritional health of disadvantaged and at-risk populations through nutrition intervention research. The participation of the Partners allows scientists to evaluate and generate knowledge about nutrition and health needs, food habits, and food consumption in the 36 counties in the LMD. The Initiative will enable the Consortium to design and evaluate nutrition interventions that will be sustainable in the Lower Mississippi Delta. Delta NIRI surveys have determined the composition of the diet and nutritional needs of the diverse population of the Delta. The telephone methodology for obtaining food and nutrition information is important to nutrition monitoring in the LMD, as well as the rest of the US. We are collaborating with Tufts Human Nutrition Research Center to develop an adult food frequency questionnaire based on what adults are eating in the LMD and with the Jackson Heart Study in Mississippi to provide validation of this adult food frequency instrument, allowing it to be used widely in nutrition research. A similar collaborative effort is underway with the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston, with Baylor scientists assisting in the development of a child food frequency questionnaire. These are examples of additional collaboration within the ARS Human Nutrition Program. We continue to collaborate with USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) to develop a measure of community food security that will assist in nutrition interventions for the targeted population of the LMD. 4.What were the most significant accomplishments this past year? A. Single Most Significant Accomplishment during FY2003: More information is needed for alternative food products to address nutritional needs within the Lower Mississippi Delta. Southern University scientists completed consumer acceptability studies on a newly developed cereal product composed of soybean, rice, sweet potatoes, and non-fat dry milk in groups of 4-7 and 8-18 year olds. The cereal product was found to be acceptable to a majority of the participants, regardless of age. Consumer acceptance studies can now be developed for parents of the two age groups studied to date. B.Other Significant Accomplishment(s) None. C. Significant Accomplishments/Activities that Support Special Target Populations. None. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. Southern University scientists and ARS collaborated with a graduate student in the Department of Food Sciences at Pennsylvania State University on a consumer acceptability study of a ready-to-eat cereal utilizing foods grown in the Delta, soybeans, rice, sweet potatoes, and nonfat dry milk. The resulting cereal product was deemed acceptable by the children through sensory research, allowing this cereal product to be available for further testing and possible production in the Lower Mississippi Delta. Two additional projects have been completed: Consumer acceptance of the cereal product in a group 8-18 years of age, and a study of knowledge and attitudes toward fiber in an adolescent group. Since food insecurity is more prevalent in the Louisiana Delta, Southern University scientists and ARS collaborated with the Delta Food Security Alliance, USDA Food and Nutrition Services, Southwest Region in the Partnership for Change Initiative to increase participation in USDA nutrition assistance programs. Meetings with community and agency leaders and low-income residents were conducted to discuss barriers and reasons for nonparticipation and for possible solutions. This collaboration has established an ongoing relationship with Southern University, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, and the Agricultural Research Service. 6.What do you expect to accomplish, year by year, over the next 3 years? The goal of the Center of Excellence is to improve the well-being of individuals and families through teaching, research and outreach in food and nutrition. Activities of the Center will be accomplished over a multi-year period. Limited one-time funding has restricted the staffing of the Center for ongoing activities to support research, outreach, and education needs of diverse audiences. The Center has received no additional funding for ongoing activities. Additional funding is needed to fully carry out the objectives of the Center. 2004: Prepare culturally diverse undergraduate and graduate students to assume leading roles as food and nutrition professionals. Collaborate with the Delta Food Security Alliance, USDA/FNS, Southwest Region to reduce food insecurity in the rural Lower Mississippi Delta. Solicit funding from the Agricultural Research Service, Food and Nutrition Service, and related agencies to support ongoing activities of the Center of Excellence for Food, Nutrition and Health Promotion. Establish a summer research apprenticeship program for undergraduate students. 2005: Design and scientifically test intervention strategies to reduce hunger and food insecurity in diverse populations. Prepare culturally diverse undergraduate and graduate students to assume leading roles as food and nutrition professionals. Evaluate best practices in nutrition education for nutrition assistance programs. Establish a graduate program focused on producing food and nutrition professionals to meet the manpower needs of a changing food and nutrition environment. 2006: Design and scientifically test intervention strategies to reduce hunger and food insecurity in diverse populations. Prepare culturally diverse undergraduate and graduate students to assume leading roles as food and nutrition professionals. Evaluate best practices in nutrition education for nutrition assistance programs. 7.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? None. 8.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: This does not replace your peer-reviewed publications listed below). None.