Federal Resources

The Food and Nutrition Information Center - a leader in food and human nutrition information dissemination since 1971 - provides credible, accurate, and practical resources for nutrition and health professionals, educators, government personnel and consumers.

This article highlights the unique needs of children that must be addressed during public health emergencies and the roles that community-level pediatricians, state and local public health departments, regional coalitions, and the federal government play in addressing these needs. 

This brief (PDF, 10 pages) outlines the growing body of evidence that suggests physical activity and physical education offered during the school day are linked to children’s healthy development and academic achievement, and have the potential to positively impact school climate and conditions for learning in schools. 

CYFERnet is a national network of Land Grant university faculty and county Extension educators working to support community-based educational programs for children, youth, parents and families. It provides program, evaluation and technology assistance for children, youth and family community-based programs and is funded as a joint project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's NIFA and the Cooperative Extension System

This course, from the University of Wisconsin Extension, provides a holistic approach to planning and evaluating education and outreach programs. It helps program practitioners use and apply logic models - a framework and way of thinking to help us improve our work and be accountable for results. You will learn what a logic model is and how to use one for planning, implementation, evaluation or communicating about your program.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) advances knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations. NIFA replaced the former Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), which had been in existence since 1994.

NNCC unites the expertise of many of the nation's leading universities through the outreach system of Cooperative Extension. Our goal is to share knowledge about children and child care from the vast resources of the land grant universities with parents, professionals, practitioners, and the general public.

These tip sheets, developed by Penn State Extension, are teaching tools that apply scientific and communication principles to an extension evaluation problem in the field.

USDA’s NIFA has announced the award of $9 million in grants, through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), to develop childhood obesity intervention programs through colleges and universities in 12 states and Puerto Rico. NIFA anticipates making $42 million available over the next five years for the AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area. 

This report is the first to be issued by a federal agency that comprehensively reviews the public health issue of electronic cigarettes and their impact on young people. Using evidence gathered from studies that included young adolescents, adolescents, and young adults, this report confirms there is no acceptable level of nicotine when it comes to these populations and the aerosol from e-cigarettes is not harmless. The report website also offers tools for parents and a public service announcement.