The 1,000 Days videos originated with a group of researchers and policy experts who came together to create the first ever, comprehensive set of technical, evidence-based feeding guidelines for babies 0-2.
This group received funding for their work through Healthy Eating Research (HER), one of our national programs. For more than ten years, HER has been working with researchers from around the country who are studying nutrition issues. The work they do informs federal and local food/nutrition programs and policies to improve the health and well-being of children and families.
Not only does HER support researchers to conduct their analysis and publish findings, it also helps communicate these findings to specific audiences who need them most. These are typically advocates, policymakers and the larger public health field.
For instance, HER has worked with researchers to develop complementary products such as issue briefs and infographics that synthesize lengthy journal articles to better emphasize the topic being studied and the subsequent findings. HER has also equipped researchers with the resources necessary to garner press coverage for an issue that is in the headlines or submit testimony to offer evidence on a topic connected to a hotly debated bill.
In addition to assisting with the dissemination of research, RWJF and HER have succeeded in creating relationships with the country’s leading nutrition and obesity prevention organizations in addition to national health institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health. One benefit of working with us is that our network and resources become available to you. And now is a great time to join our community.
Details of This Funding Opportunity
The next round of nutrition research funding is available (application deadline: July 18, 2018). HER is awarding $2.6 million to researchers/research teams studying ways—either through current or new pilot policies/programs—to improve children’s nutrition habits and dietary intake to help them grow up healthy.
We are most interested in research that can impact kids and families, particularly those who are disproportionately affected by high rates of obesity and poor health, in the places they spend time including child care centers, schools and the neighborhoods where they live.
Some topics that are of importance are included in the list below. But, proposals do not need to be limited to these areas.
- Federal nutrition programs such as SNAP, WIC, and School Breakfast and Lunch programs;
- Strategies to increase access to healthy food and/or decrease access to unhealthy food including pricing incentives, water access, nutrition labels and procurement practices; and
- Industry and/or retail practices that influence purchasing and consumption habits.
We know that many of you are studying innovative ways to help our kids eat healthier. This next round of funding could help you continue your work. It could also introduce that work to new and larger audiences who will use it in myriad ways from informing federal nutrition policy that has the potential to benefit millions of kids to equipping stressed out parents with the guidance they need to feed their babies. This is why we ask you to submit a written report once your project concludes, that includes findings that can be widely disseminated to advocates, policymakers and the research community.