Author
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SCHWENK, FRANKIE - 0540-00-00 |
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Submitted to: Nutrition and Health Status in the Lower Mississippi Delta of AR, LA, & MS
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI) is a research effort to design, carry out, and evaluate nutrition interventions directed at improving the health and well-being of the people residing in the lower Delta region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The genesis of this initiative occurred in 1991, at a meeting between Dr. Robert Fiser and Dr. George Bray, and in 1992 included Dr. Allison Yates. Their proposal was based upon recommendations in the final report of the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission, which had been established in 1990 by Public Law 100-468. In Fiscal Year 1994, Congress appropriated funds for the development of a plan for a "multiyear research initiative in the Lower Mississippi Delta region that will examine the health benefits to be achieved through nutrition intervention" (Senate Report No. 103-102). In January 1994, a multidisciplinary team of university and ARS scientists visited each of the six institutions identified as part of the proposed initiative to determine the feasibility of the project. Funds were appropriated to the program on January 1, 1995, the appropriation was distributed equally among the seven research partners (USDA/Agricultural Research Service, Alcorn State University, Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Southern University and A&M College, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Southern Mississippi). The Delta Initiative is a long-term, multiyear effort to collect and analyze existing data on the region, to collect new data, and to plan and implement sustainable nutrition interventions. |
