2005 WIC Special Project Grants

Project Title:  Improving fruit and vegetable consumption of pre-school children.

State Agency:  Oregon

Summary: This project will determine whether motivational interviewing (MI) has an effect on parents increasing their offering of fruits and vegetables (F&V) to their pre-school (2-4 year-old) WIC children. This project will contribute to MI studies with: (1) the scientific determination of the efficacy of MI with and without follow-up with randomization, (2) the cost-effectiveness assessment of MI, and (3) developing the F&V offering tool for pre-school children, and MI tool kits, reports, implementation manual, data collection tools in Spanish and English.

Project Title:  Pennsylvania WIC evaluation: guided goal setting (GGS) as a behavioral change approach to improve nutrition and health of WIC participants.

State Agency:  Pennsylvania

Summary:  This project is designed to develop GGS training materials, evaluate GGS at the local level, and will involve the integration of state, regional, and local level analyses. The modules will focus on eating more fruits and vegetables and will serve as a model for illustrating how to incorporate GGS to facilitate food-based nutrition education messages or behavior change goals.

Project Title:  Nurturing families’ appetite for fruits and vegetables

State Agency:  Vermont

Summary: This project proposes to develop, implement, and evaluate a behavioral assessment and counseling method to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among WIC families. The project uses frequency, intensity and type of participant contact (hence FIT) as a counseling approach to increase fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption among families. The project is directed at staff and includes developing a training curriculum, actual training, and monitoring through supervisory tools, as well as developing materials designed for families and staff to use together.

Project Title:  Effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) counseling techniques to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

State Agency:  Washington, DC

Summary:  The design compares MI strategies, enhanced MI strategies ("MI plus") and current nutrition education methods. The study will recruit six of the largest clinic sites to participate, three each serving African American and Hispanic participants and the tools to be developed include MI and MI plus implementation guides, tool kits and a cost benefit analysis of MI and MI plus.