[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 31 (Thursday, February 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10163-10168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-03228]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comment Request--Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings 
II (SNACS-II)

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 this proposed information collection. This collection is a new 
collection for the Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care 
Settings II (SNACS-II).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to: Constance Newman, Food and 
Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1320 Braddock Place, 
Alexandria, VA 22314, 202-213-9856. Comments may also be submitted via 
fax to the attention of Constance Newman 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 responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the 
request for Office of Management and Budget approval. All comments will 
be a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of this information collection should be directed to Constance 
Newman at 202-213-9856.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have 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 use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Title: Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings II 
(SNACS-II).
    Form Number: N/A.
    OMB Number: Not Yet Assigned.
    Expiration Date: Not Yet Determined.
    Type of Request: New Collection.
    Abstract: The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), 
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and 
Nutrition Service (FNS), provides reimbursement for nutritious meals 
and snacks served to eligible children enrolled in participating child 
care programs. Reimbursable meals and snacks must meet CACFP's meal 
pattern requirements.
    SNACS-II is the second comprehensive, nationally representative 
assessment of CACFP providers and the infants, children, and teens they 
serve. It will update the picture of the CACFP after updated meal 
pattern requirements went into effect in October 2017. Under the 
updated requirements, CACFP meals and snacks must include a wider 
variety of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, and less added 
sugar and saturated fat. The updated requirements are also designed to 
encourage breastfeeding.
    SNACS-II will collect data in program year 2022-2023 to address 
eight broad objectives: (1) CACFP provider characteristics, (2) 
nutritional quality of foods offered, (3) children's dietary intakes, 
(4) children's physical activity and household characteristics, (5) 
CACFP plate waste, (6) teens' physical activity and household 
characteristics, (7) infants' dietary intakes and physical activity 
while in care, and (8) the cost to produce CACFP meals and snacks. 
SNACS-II will largely replicate the methods used in the first Study of 
Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings because comparing key 
outcomes at the two points in time is an important focus of the study. 
SNACS-II will collect data from nationally representative samples of 
CACFP providers, including family day care homes, child care centers, 
Head Start centers, at-risk afterschool centers, and outside-school-
hours care centers; infants, children, and teens; and parents/
guardians. To address the array of research questions under the eight 
study objectives, the data collection activities to be undertaken 
subject to this notice include the following:
     The Provider Survey and Environmental Observation Form 
will be used to describe the characteristics of CACFP providers.
     The Menu Survey will be used to assess the nutritional 
quality of foods offered.
     The Meal Observation Booklet and the Automated Self-
Administered 24-Hour dietary recall interview (ASA24) will be used to 
describe children's dietary intakes.
     The Parent Interview and Height and Weight Form collect 
data on children's physical activity and household characteristics.
     The Food and Physical Activity Experiences Survey and Teen 
Parent Interview collect data on teens' physical activity and household 
characteristics.
     The Infant Menu Survey will be used to assess the 
nutrition quality of foods offered to infants. The Infant Intake Form 
collect information on infants' dietary intakes while in care.
     The Pre-Visit Cost Interview, Pre-Visit Cost Form, 
Sponsor/Center Cost Interview, Center Director Cost Interview, Center 
Food Service Cost Interview, and Self-Administered Cost Questionnaire 
collect information on

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the cost to produce CACFP meals and snacks.

Personally identifiable information (PII) will not be used to retrieve 
survey records or data.
    Affected Public: State and local government respondents are CACFP 
State agency managers. For-profit and not-for-profit business 
respondents include (1) sponsor staff, (2) directors, (3) food 
preparers, and (4) provider staff. Individual respondents include (1) 
children, (2) teens, and (3) their parents/guardians.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: A total of 16,301 members of the 
public will be initially contacted to participate in the study. This 
includes 25 State and local government respondents, 5,880 for-profit 
and not-for-profit business respondents, and 10,396 individuals. 
Initial contact will vary by type of respondent and may include study 
notification and recruiting or data collection. FNS anticipates that 
approximately 11,677 of these individuals will respond to initial 
contact, and 6,382 will not respond. Some who respond to the initial 
contact may subsequently become nonrespondents to one or more 
components of the data collection. The number of unique respondents 
expected to provide data for the study is 10,157 (25 from State and 
local government, 3,997 from for-profit and not-for-profit businesses, 
and 6,135 individuals).
    The expected completed sample to be used to describe CACFP provider 
characteristics and the nutritional quality of foods offered includes 
1,340 providers. Child care center and family day care home directors 
will complete the Provider Survey, and food preparers will complete the 
Menu Survey. Study staff will complete the Environmental Observation 
Form for a subset of 420 of these providers (no public burden is 
associated with this activity).
    The expected completed sample that will be used to describe 
children's dietary intakes, physical activity, household 
characteristics, and plate waste includes 2,160 children and their 
parents or guardians. Parents and guardians will be recruited into the 
study and provide consent. Trained study staff will observe children's 
meals and snacks and plate waste using the Meal Observervation Booklet, 
and measure their height and weight using the Height and Weight Form. 
Parents and guardians will complete the Parent Interview and ASA24 for 
one in-care day and an ASA24 for one out-of-care day. Independent 10 
percent subsamples of parents will complete a separate in- or out-of-
care day ASA24 to estimate usual intakes of nutrients.
    The expected completed sample that will be used to measure teens' 
physical activity and household characteristics includes 720 teens and 
their parents or guardians. Parents and guardians will be recruited 
into the study and provide consent. Teens will provide assent and 
complete the Food and Physical Activity Experiences Survey. Parents and 
guardians will complete the Teen Parent Interview.
    The expected completed sample that will be used to measure infants' 
dietary intakes and physical activity while in care includes: (1) 548 
food preparers who will complete the Infant Menu Survey, (2) 139 
caregivers or teachers who will complete the Infant Intake Form, and 
(3) 375 parents/guardians who will be recruited into the study, provide 
consent, and report infant weight-for age.
    The expected completed sample that will be used to estimate the 
cost to produce CACFP meals and snacks includes 444 providers. 
Individuals who complete data collection will include sponsor and 
provider staff. Sponsor program staff or center directors will complete 
the Pre-Visit Cost Interview, Pre-Visit Cost Form, and Sponsor/Center 
Cost Interview. Center directors will complete the Center Director Cost 
Interview and Self-Administered Cost Questionnaire. Food preparers will 
complete the Center Food Service Cost Interview.
    Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: All respondents will 
be asked to respond to each specific data collection activity only 
once. The overall average number of responses per respondent across the 
entire data collection is 2.31.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 41,514.
    Estimated Time per Response: 37 minutes (0.62 hours). The estimated 
time of response varies from 2 minutes to 2.49 hours depending on 
respondent group, as shown in the table below.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 25,843 hours. This 
includes 24,252 hours for respondents and 1,591 hours for 
nonrespondents. See the table below for estimated total annual burden 
for each type of respondent.

Cindy Long,
Acting Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P

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[FR Doc. 2021-03228 Filed 2-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-C