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K-State Today

February 24, 2016

First Food for Thought event will explore interdisciplinary team development to help K-State compete for USDA Challenge Grant

Submitted by Peter Dorhout

Dear Colleagues,

As part of a new initiative to bring faculty together called Food for Thought, the Office of the Vice President for Research is hosting a gathering for faculty with research interests related to childhood obesity prevention from 4–5:30 p.m. Monday, March 7, in the K-State Alumni Center Tadtman Board Room. The event, which provides food for your thoughts, will feature speed networking and a structured discussion. Participation is limited to the first 70 faculty members, so please register soon. Registrations will be accepted until the event is full or until noon on March 2. Refreshments will be available. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or USDA-NIFA, will likely release its Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program for childhood obesity prevention on April 1, and proposals are anticipated to be due on June 15. Awards will be for up to $1 million per year for five years. K-State's wealth of RSCAD expertise in this area means we are well positioned to compete for these funds, but developing interdisciplinary teams is a crucial first step.

Program area priorities are related to:

  • Generating new knowledge about behavioral, social, cultural and environmental factors that influence excessive weight gain by children and adolescents.
  • Developing effective interventions to increase dietary intakes of fruits and vegetables and other positive dietary changes; increase the number of children who meet guidelines for television viewing and computer use; increase physical activity in children; and decrease the proportion of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese.
  • Expanding proven effective interventions and assessing their impact increasing the number of parents, caretakers, educators, practitioners and researchers who receive the training and effectively model behaviors necessary to address the complex problem of childhood obesity prevention.

To help prepare 2016 applications, more details are available in the 2015 request for applications.

If you have questions, please contact Mary Rezac, associate vice president for research, at rezac@k-state.edu or Stephanie Pierce, assistant to the vice president for research, at smpierce@k-state.edu

Sincerely,

Peter K. Dorhout

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