Skip to main content
Resource | Research and Data | Nutrition Education Fit WIC: Programs to Prevent Childhood Overweight in Your Community

Fit WIC can help the nation’s premier early childhood food and nutrition program work more effectively to reduce and prevent unhealthy weight among our children.

05/01/2005
Resource | Research and Data | Food Security Obesity, Poverty, and Participation in Nutrition Assistance Programs

The national nutrition safety net consists of 15 programs that provide millions of low-income Americans access to a healthy and nutritious diet. It has been observed that many low-income individuals are both overweight and participants in one or more nutrition assistance programs. This has led some to question whether participation in the nutrition assistance programs contributes to the growing problem of overweight and obesity. This report presents the conclusions of an expert panel convened by the Food and Nutrition Service to determine if there is scientific evidence of a relationship between program participation and excess weight.

02/01/2005
Resource | Research and Data | Demonstrations Team Nutrition Demonstration Project 1999-2002

The FNS goal was to document the process (steps, time, and resources) for fully implementing Team Nutrition  by communicating the four messages to students using the classroom and cafeteria as delivery channels, as well as other places in their environment such as the school, home, community and local media.

12/10/2004
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis Proposed Criteria for Selecting the WIC Food Packages

This report is the first step in the developing recommendations for revision to the WIC food packages. It reviews the nutritional needs and assesses the dietary adequacy of the WIC target population and proposes priority nutrients and food groups and general nutrition recommendations for the WIC food packages. This is a report of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (Food and Nutrition Board), published here by permission. It is also available on the Institute of Medicine website.

08/01/2004
Resource | Research and Data | Nutrition Education Environmental Scan and Audience Analysis for Phase II of Eat Smart. Play Hard.

FNS launched the Eat Smart. Play Hard. campaign to promote USDA’s healthy eating and physical activity messages to children ages 2–18 and their caregivers. This campaign is an FNS agency-wide initiative and represents the latest effort by FNS to meet its strategic goal of improving the nutrition of children and low-income adults while at the same time addressing the major public health issue of the increasing prevalence of obesity among our nation’s youth. 

03/01/2003
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis Dietary Risk Assessment in the WIC Program

This is a report of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (Food and Nutrition Board), published here by permission. This report seeks to evaluate the use of various dietary assessment tools and to make recommendations for their use in identifying individuals who are at dietary risk.

06/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Assessing/Improving Operations School Meals Initiative Implementation Study: Third Year Report

Research conducted in the early 1990s indicated that school meals, on balance, were failing to meet certain key nutritional goals. In light of these findings, the USDA launched a far-reaching reform of the school meals programs, a reform aimed at upgrading the nutritional content of school meals. Several elements of this reform are collectively referred to as the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children (SMI). The status of this initiative, together with an examination of selected operational issues of these programs, are the principal subjects of this report.

06/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis Availability of Fresh Produce In Nutrition Assistance Programs

Fruit and vegetable consumption is an important component of a balanced diet consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Food Guide Pyramid. FNS promotes the increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, in all forms – fresh, frozen, canned, dried and juices, through its nutrition assistance programs.

05/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Food/Nutrient Analysis School Lunch Salad Bars

This report fulfills a request to USDA from the Appropriations Committee Directives, FY 2002. As requested, this report compares the availability of fruits and vegetables in schools with and without salad bars using data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study, Part II, which were collected during the school year 1998-99. SNDA-II data enables us to examine the choice and variety of foods offered at salad bars, but not the quantity in a typical serving or the amount consumed.

04/01/2002
Resource | Research and Data | Nutrition Education Nutrition Education in FNS: A Coordinated Approach for Promoting Healthy Behaviors

This report fulfills the request from Congress in the House Appropriations Committee Report (HR 107-116), which accompanied the Agriculture Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002.

03/13/2002
Page updated: September 16, 2025