2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) A primary objective of the Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI) Consortium mission being conducted in part under this cooperative agreement is to develop nutrition intervention strategies in the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) through community-based participatroy research. The specific objective of this cooperative research project is to establish a community participatory structure (Hollandale Nutrition Intervention Research Iniative [Hollandale NIRI]) that will evaluate nutritional health in the Hollandale, Mississippi community, identify nutritionally responsive problems, and design, conduct, and evaluate interventions which may be sustained at the community level. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Developing capacity as necessary, the City of Hollandale, Mississippi, will foster and support the Hollandale Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Hollandale NIRI), a community group that will work in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and other Delta NIRI Consortium partners, to design, develop, conduct, support, and facilitate nutrition interventions related to the nutritional status of the Hollandale community. Following implementation and evaluation of these nutrition intervention strategies in teh Hollandale community, the Delta NIRI Consortium will identify successful intervention strategies, evaluate the impact of community participation, determine specific characteristics of the community that contributed to success, and evaluate the feasibility of adapting those successful intervention strategies to other communities with similar needs. 3.Progress Report Monitoring of cooperator’s performance and adherence to conditions of the agreement was by: a strategic planning session; two site visits (one for data collection and one for technical assistance); quarterly reports consisting of budgetary material, progress towards goals and objectives, and review of publications and manuscripts in progress; community visits to determine progress at research sites and numerous conference calls and emails. 4.Accomplishments Comprehensive Process Evaluation of Fit for Life Steps: Understanding the factors that contribute to making nutrition and physical activity interventions effective and sustainable is critical in small, rural communities, where declining population and limited resources present formidable challenges to community health status. The Hollandale NIRI (MS), a research site of the Lower Mississippi Delta NIRI, completed a comprehensive process evaluation of the Hollandale Fit for Life Steps walking intervention. The process evaluation confirmed that trained volunteer leaders from the community can effectively recruit and support their overweight and obese community peers in increasing their level of physical activity and improving their blood pressure and other health outcomes. These findings are important to the nutrition field of science, providing documentation of lay persons serving as functional leaders to address nutrition related issues. (NP 107, Human Nutrition Action Plan 2004-2008: Component 7: Health Promoting Intervention Strategies for Targeted Populations: ARS Strategic Plan Objective 4.l: Promote Healthier Individual Food Choices and Lifestyles and Prevent Obesity: and Performance Measure 4.1.1: Execute and report on two completed Delta NIRI projects) Capacity Building Evaluations in a Rural Mississippi Delta Community: Various levels and types of capacity-building are necessary in small, rural communities in the rural lower Mississippi Delta region to combat obesity and other nutrition-related chronic diseases. Hollandale NIRI (MS), as part of the Lower Mississippi Delta NIRI, underwent an evaluation of their capacity-building activities using an accepted framework for dimensions of community capacity. From this evaluation, we determined that an appropriate level of a community’s capacity is necessary to successfully address the health disparities that face rural lower Mississippi Delta region communities. The capacity-building activities in the Hollandale NIRI has strengthened leadership skills, resources, critical reflection, problem assessment and community health values, preparing this community to sustain positive health processes and outcomes achieved through nutrition and physical activity interventions. Completion of this evaluation is noteworthy since other community-based organizations will be able to make use of the capacity-building activities that have been positively received in this rural population. (NP 107, Human Nutrition Action Plan 2004-2008: Component 7: Health Promoting Intervention Strategies for Targeted Populations: ARS Strategic Plan Objective 4.l: Promote Healthier Individual Food Choices and Lifestyles and Prevent Obesity: and Performance Measure 4.1.1: Execute and report on two completed Delta NIRI projects) Community Research Workshop Initiative: Community members of the Hollandale NIRI (MS), a research site of the Lower Mississippi Delta NIRI, identified a need for training that addressed specific aspects of research (institutional review board processes, ethics, community-based participatory processes, confidentiality, etc.) and upon thorough review of existing literature, nothing was available to present to a rural community audience. The Lower Mississippi Delta NIRI and cooperative partners developed a curriculum (with input from the community) and provided a thorough research presentation to approximately 100 community and Delta NIRI partners in the three rural regions of AR, LA, and MS. Preliminary evaluation indicates that attendance and participation in research projects has increased as a result of this informative presentation. A publication is being prepared for a peer reviewed journal, and the curriculum will be posted on the internet for other rural communities to use. (NP 107, Human Nutrition Action Plan 2004-2008: Component 7: Health Promoting Intervention Strategies for Targeted Populations: ARS Strategic Plan Objective 4.l: Promote Healthier Individual Food Choices and Lifestyles and Prevent Obesity: and Performance Measure 4.1.1: Execute and report on two completed Delta NIRI projects) 6.Technology Transfer Number of non-peer reviewed presentations and proceedings 2 Number of newspaper articles and other presentations for non-science audiences 4