NCIPH grant aimed at helping consumers make healthier food choices in hospitals and grocery stores
December 5, 2014
The N.C. Institute for Public Health, part of UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, recently won a $135,000 award from the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) to identify and assess marketing strategies and behavioral designs in hospitals and full-service grocery stores.
John Graham, PhD, senior investigator at the Institute and adjunct assistant professor in the Gillings School’s Public Health Leadership Program, will serve as principal investigator for the grant, which will help researchers improve consumers’ selection of healthy foods and beverages.
The Institute will assist the DNPAO in the identification of promising practices for follow-up research and pilot studies, conducting interviews, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting findings and recommendations.
“This project exemplifies the role of the Institute as a convener of talents from around the School, the larger university, and with partner departments in other universities,” Graham said. “We have a strong team, with faculty members and students from the Gillings School’s departments of nutrition, health behavior and biostatistics, as well as from UNC Hospitals and East Carolina University. We also will have access to resources from the newly formed Duke-U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Behavioral Economics and Health Food Choice Research. We look forward to this and other collaborations.”