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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #107922
Title: FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES

Author
item SMITH, JUNEAL - ACHRI
item SCHOLLE, SARAH - UNIV PITTSBURGH SCH MED

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: Very little data are available on food and nutrient intake, or on food accessibility and security in the rural Delta area. The Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has a major presence in the three-state area. The proportion of school children eligible for free and reduced-cost school lunches exceeds the national average in both Louisiana and Mississippi (MS); in MS it totals 71% of children. Of the more than 70,000 children participating in school breakfast programs in the three states, 86% were eligible for free or reduced-cost meals in Arkansas (AR), 91% in Louisiana (LA), and 93% in MS. Federal nutrition programs for the elderly served more than 5 million meals in 1994 in the three states, at senior centers, other congregate sites, and home-delivered meals. Nutrition education resources exists in some counties in the area through the Cooperative Extension Service¿s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), through WIC programs, and on a limited basis through health care providers. There is a great need for documentation of actual food intake patterns, food habits, and patterns of dietary behavior in the populations residing in the lower Delta area. Limited data available suggest that there are differences in food intake patterns between individuals residing in households below the poverty level and those above, and between African-Americans and Caucasians living in this area. Despite gaps in food and nutrition program data, the information that is available provides useful insight into how community nutrition intervention strategies are currently being implemented in these states and their Delta regions.