[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 12 (Friday, January 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3164-3167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00827]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Education Study

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice invites the general public and other public agencies to comment 
on the proposed collection of data for the WIC Nutrition Education 
Study. This is a NEW information collection. The Special Supplemental 
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is 
administered at the Federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service 
(FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Through Federal grants to 
States, WIC provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and 
nutrition education to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-
breastfeeding postpartum women and to infants and children who are 
found to be at nutritional risk. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 
2010 (Pub. L. 111-296, Sec. 305) mandates programs under its 
authorization, including WIC, to cooperate with USDA program research 
and evaluation activities. WIC's mission is to safeguard the health of 
low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at 
nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, 
information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.
    Nutrition education is the program feature often viewed as pivotal 
to WIC's success in achieving its mission to safeguard the health of 
low-income women, infants, and children. By Federal directive, all 
participants have the opportunity to participate in nutrition education 
at least two times during a 6-month period of eligibility or quarterly 
for a 12-month period. State and local WIC agencies have significant 
flexibility to design nutrition education appropriate for the 
demographics of their participants within established goals. This 
flexibility has yielded a range of messages, delivery systems and 
approaches, qualifications and training for educators, and quality.
    The WIC Nutrition Education Study will provide a nationally 
representative description of how nutrition education is currently 
being provided to WIC recipients across the country. It will also 
conduct a pilot study of the impact of nutrition education on WIC 
recipients' nutrition and physical activity behaviors. This study will 
provide FNS with a better understanding of nutrition education 
practices and methods used by WIC and of the effectiveness of current 
WIC nutrition education services. The study will document how nutrition 
education is being provided subsequent to several program changes, 
including the 2009 food package changes, the implementation of the 
initiative to Revitalize Quality Nutrition Services (RQNS), and the use 
of new technology, among a racially and ethnically diverse population. 
Understanding optimal educational topics and methods, how to maximize 
participant engagement, the best approaches for delivery and 
reinforcement of messages, and how to effectively prepare and support 
WIC nutrition educators is key to informing WIC nutrition education 
improvements.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 18, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Written comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed 
data collection of information is necessary for the proper performance 
of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions that were used; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological

[[Page 3165]]

collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Written comments may be sent to: Rich Lucas, Acting Associate 
Administrator, Office of Policy Support, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 
1014, Alexandria, VA 22302. Comments may also be submitted via fax to 
the attention of Rich Lucas at 703-305-2576 or via email to 
[email protected]. Comments will also be accepted through the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments electronically.
    All written comments will be open for public inspection at the 
office of the Food and Nutrition Service during regular business hours 
(8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday) at 3101 Park Center 
Drive, Room 1014, Alexandria, Virginia 22302.
    All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
also be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information 
should be directed to Rich Lucas at 703-305-2017.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: The Special Supplemental Nutrition 
Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutrition Education 
Study.
    OMB Number: 0584-NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not yet determined.
    Type of Request: New collection.
    Abstract: The purpose of the WIC Nutrition Education Study is to 
(1) provide a nationally representative description of how nutrition 
education is currently being provided to recipients of the Special 
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 
and (2) develop an evaluation plan for a national study to measure the 
impact of WIC nutrition education on the nutrition and physical 
activity behaviors of women and their children. This study will be 
conducted in two phases.
    In Phase I, data will be collected from WIC local agencies and 
their local sites via a nationally representative survey and in-depth 
telephone interviews with a subset of the survey respondents. The 
objectives of Phase I include:
     Describe the policies, practices, staff qualifications, 
and other features affecting nutrition education across all sites 
within a local agency.
     Describe the logistics and features of nutrition education 
service delivery, staff characteristics, modes of education, and 
facilities and resources for delivering nutrition education at the site 
level.
     Describe the dosage and duration of various nutrition 
education processes.
     Assess the frequency of various nutrition education 
processes overall and by geographic distribution and local agency and 
site characteristics.
     Inform the selection of the sites for the Phase II pilot 
study.
    The Phase II pilot study will include a process and impact 
evaluation with six geographically dispersed local WIC sites. The 
objectives of Phase II include:
     Process evaluation: Describe the context for and 
implementation of nutrition education in each of the six pilot sites.
     Impact evaluation: Measure the strength of association 
between exposure to WIC nutrition education and changes in participant 
health behaviors and other outcomes (e.g., readiness for change, self-
efficacy, food acquisition and management, eating behaviors, 
breastfeeding habits, dietary intake, and physical and sedentary 
activity habits).
    Data collection for the process evaluation will include semi-
structured interviews with WIC site staff, observations of nutrition 
education delivery, an online survey of nutrition educators, review of 
Local Agency Nutrition Education Plans and administrative data, and 
focus groups with WIC participants. Data collection for the impact 
evaluation will include a survey of WIC participants at three time 
points (baseline, interim, final) over a 12-month period.
    Combined, Phases I and II of this study will result in a 
comprehensive description of WIC nutrition education processes that 
will provide information on optimal educational topics and methods, how 
to maximize participant engagement, and the best approaches for 
delivery and reinforcement of nutrition education messages. FNS will 
use this information to inform WIC nutrition education improvements, 
thus improving the health of low-income women and children at 
nutritional risk. There are no costs to respondents other than their 
time.

Affected Public

Phase I

     State and local WIC agencies and sites (50 State agencies, 
1,000 WIC local agencies and 2,000 WIC sites): State agency directors, 
local agency WIC directors/managers, local WIC site supervisors/
nutritionists. We estimate 50 State agencies and 50 local agencies will 
need to be contacted and will provide information needed for drawing 
the sample for the Site Survey. We estimate that 80% or 800 of the 
local agencies and 80% or 1,600 of the WIC sites will participate in 
the survey and that 80 of the sites (from the 1,600 responding sites) 
will participate in the telephone interviews.

Phase II

     State and local WIC sites (6 WIC sites selected from sites 
responding to Phase I): Local WIC site supervisors, nutritionists/
nutrition assistants, WIC State agency staff. For the six pilot WIC 
sites, all of the local WIC site supervisors will participate in the 
baseline, interim, and final interviews and all of the State agencies 
for these sites will provide the requested administrative data. We 
estimate that 30 of the WIC nutritionists/nutrition assistants at these 
sites will complete the Web-based survey of nutrition educators.
     Individual/household (1,100 WIC participants): Respondent 
groups include pregnant and postpartum women enrolled in the WIC 
program and mothers or caregivers of children aged 1 year to age 4 
years who are enrolled in the WIC program at the six selected WIC 
sites. A subset of these respondents (96) will take part in focus group 
discussions.

Estimated Number of Respondents

    As presented in Table 1, the total number of respondents is 4,206. 
For Phase I, FNS estimates that 50 State agency directors and 50 local 
agency staff will provide information needed to draw the sample, 800 
local agency WIC directors/program managers will complete the Local 
Agency Survey (of these, we estimate 50 individuals may need to be 
contacted to provide information to draw the sample), and 1,600 local 
WIC site supervisors/nutritionists will complete the Site Survey. The 
surveys are web-based with a paper version available for respondents 
without Internet access. A subset of the local WIC site supervisors/
nutritionists (80) will complete in-depth telephone interviews.
    For Phase II, 6 respondents are local WIC site supervisors who will 
complete three in-person or telephone interviews (baseline, interim, 
and final) during the 12-month study period (some of these individuals 
may have also participated in the Phase I Site Survey). Additionally, 
30 are WIC nutritionists/nutrition assistants who will complete a web-
based survey (some of these individuals may have also participated in 
the Phase I Site Survey), and 24 are

[[Page 3166]]

WIC State agency staff who will provide WIC administrative data.
    A total of 1,100 respondents are WIC participants from the six 
selected WIC sites. Of the 1,100 WIC participants approached for 
screening, 900 will agree to be screened and will be eligible for the 
study. Of these, 800 will agree to enroll in the study and complete the 
baseline survey, 640 will complete the interim survey, and 600 will 
complete the final survey. A subset of WIC participants (96) will take 
part in focus group discussions.

Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent

    For Phase I, there is one response per respondent. For Phase II, 
the WIC participants will complete three surveys and the local WIC site 
supervisors will complete three interviews (baseline, interim, and 
final) during the 12-month study period. Data will be collected from 
other respondent types only once.

Estimated Total Annual Responses

    The total annualized estimated number of responses is 2,334. For 
Phase I this includes 17 responses from State agency directors, 351 
responses for local agency WIC directors/program managers, and 668 
responses for local WIC site supervisors/nutritionists. A subsample of 
33 local WIC site supervisors/nutritionists will be contacted for the 
telephone interviews. For Phase II this includes 13 responses for WIC 
nutritionists/nutrition assistants, 6 responses for local WIC site 
supervisors, 4 responses from State Agency staff, and 1,242 responses 
for WIC participants. The Annualized burden (last column of Table 1) 
should be multiplied by 3 to get the burden over the life of the 3-year 
data collection period.

Estimated Time per Response

    Phase I: State agency and local agency directors will take 30 
minutes (0.5 hours) to respond to the request for information to draw 
the sample, local agency WIC directors/program managers will take 45 
minutes (0.75 hours) to respond to the web-based Local Agency Survey, 
and local WIC site supervisors/nutritionists will take 45 minutes (0.75 
hours) to respond to the web-based Site Survey. Local WIC site 
supervisors/nutritionists will take 30 minutes (0.5 hours) to respond 
to the in-depth telephone interviews.
    Phase II: WIC nutritionists/nutrition assistants will take 20 
minutes (0.334 hours) to respond to the web-based survey. Local WIC 
site supervisors will take 45 minutes (0.75 hours) to respond to the 
baseline interview, 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to respond to the interim 
interview, and 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to respond to the final 
interview. WIC State agency staff will take 1.5 hours to respond to the 
WIC administrative data request, which can be done once at the end of 
the 12-month study period. WIC participants will take 15 minutes (0.25 
hours) to complete the in-person screening interview, 20 minutes (0.334 
hours) to complete the baseline survey, 20 minutes (0.334 hours) to 
complete the interim survey, and 20 minutes (0.334 hours) to complete 
the final survey. Additionally, it will take 90 minutes (1.5 hours) for 
WIC participants who agree to take part in the focus group discussions.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: FNS estimates the 
annualized burden is 1,022.43 hours.

                                   Table 1--Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                   Frequency of
                                                   responses per                     Estimated
                                     Estimated      respondent       Estimated    average burden     Estimated
Respondents by type of interview     number of      (annualized    total annual      hours per     total annual
                                    respondents     based on 3       responses       response     hour burden\1\
                                                      years)
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                           Phase I--National Survey and Interviews of Local WIC Staff
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Request information for drawing sample from State agency directors
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    Completed...................              50          0.334            16.70          0.5000            8.35
    Attempted...................               0          0.000             0.00          0.0000            0.00
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Request information for drawing sample from local agency directors
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    Completed \2\...............              50          0.334            16.70          0.5000            8.35
    Attempted...................               0          0.000             0.00          0.0000            0.00
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Web-based survey of local agency WIC directors/program managers
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    Completed...................             800          0.334           267.20          0.7500          200.40
    Attempted...................             200          0.334            66.80          0.0835            5.58
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Web-based survey of local WIC site supervisors/nutritionists
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    Completed...................           1,600          0.334           534.40          0.7500          400.80
    Attempted...................             400          0.334           133.60          0.0835           11.16
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Telephone interviews with local WIC site supervisors/nutritionists \3\
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    Completed...................              80          0.334            26.72          0.5000           13.36
    Attempted...................              20          0.334             6.68          0.0835            0.56
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        WIC Staff Total.........           3,050  ..............         1068.80  ..............          648.55
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                            Phase II--Pilot Evaluation Study (State/Local WIC Staff)
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Web-based survey of WIC nutritionists/nutrition assistants
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    Completed \4\...............              30          0.334            10.02          0.3340            3.35

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    Attempted...................               8          0.334             2.67          0.0835            0.22
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Baseline in-person interviews with local WIC site supervisors
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    Completed \4\...............               6          0.334             2.00          0.7500            1.50
    Attempted...................               0          0.000             0.00          0.0000            0.00
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Interim and final telephone interviews with local WIC site supervisors
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    Completed \4\...............               6          0.667             4.00          0.2500            1.00
    Attempted...................               0          0.000             0.00          0.0000            0.00
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Request WIC administrative data from State Agency staff                                           ..............
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    Completed...................              12          0.334             4.01          1.5000            6.01
    Attempted...................               0          0.000             0.00          0.0000            0.00
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        WIC Staff Total.........              56  ..............           22.71  ..............           12.09
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                               Phase II--Pilot Evaluation Study (WIC Participants)
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In-person screening interview of WIC participants
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    Completed...................             900          0.334           300.60          0.2500           75.15
    Attempted...................             200          0.334            66.80          0.0835            5.58
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Baseline survey of WIC participants (in-person/mail)
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    Completed...................             800          0.334           267.20          0.3340           89.24
    Attempted...................             100          0.334            33.40          0.0334            1.12
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Interim survey of WIC participants (mail/phone)
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    Completed...................             640          0.334           213.76          0.3340           71.40
    Attempted...................             160          0.334            53.44          0.0334            1.78
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Final survey of WIC participants (mail/phone)
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    Completed...................             600          0.334           200.40          0.3340           66.93
    Attempted...................             200          0.334            66.80          0.0334            2.23
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Focus groups with WIC participants \5\
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    Completed...................              96          0.334            32.06          1.5000           48.10
    Attempted...................              24          0.334             8.02          0.0334            0.27
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        WIC Participant Total...           1,100  ..............         1242.48  ..............          361.80
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            Annualized Total....           4,206          0.5549         2333.99          0.4381         1022.43
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\1\ Annual hour burden will need to be multiplied by 3 for the total 3 year data collection period.
\2\ Not included in the Total for Estimated Number of Respondents because these respondents are a subset of
  participants to the Local Agency Survey.
\3\ Not included in the Total for Estimated Number of Respondents because these respondents are a subset of
  participants to the Site Survey.
\4\ Some of these individuals may have also participated in the Phase I Site Survey.
\5\ Not included in the Total for Estimated Number of Respondents because these participants are a subset of
  respondents to the Participant Surveys.


    Dated: January 9, 2014.
Audrey Rowe,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-00827 Filed 1-16-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P