Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) | PAR 18 112

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 18 112

The Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R21 Clinical Trial Optional) funding opportunity (PAR 18-112) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) discretionary grant program designed to stimulate innovative, early-stage research that improves how dietary intake and physical activity are measured. The central goal is not simply to run diet or exercise interventions, but to strengthen the underlying measurement science so researchers and public health programs can collect more accurate, reliable, and useful data about what people eat and how they move in real-world settings. The FOA uses the NIH R21 mechanism, which is typically suited for exploratory or developmental projects that test new ideas, generate preliminary data, or create and pilot new methods that could later be scaled or validated in larger studies. Clinical trials are allowed but not required, meaning applicants can propose work ranging from instrument development and validation to studies that involve human participants in ways that meet NIH's definition of a clinical trial.

The announcement specifically encourages projects that push beyond standard self-report tools and address long-standing limitations in diet and physical activity assessment, such as recall bias, underreporting, misclassification, and variability across populations and contexts. It welcomes development of novel assessment approaches, including new instruments, protocols, or frameworks for capturing dietary intake and physical activity with improved precision. It also highlights the need for better methods to evaluate instruments, which can include calibration strategies, comparative validation against reference measures, reliability testing, and approaches to quantify and reduce measurement error. A major emphasis is making assessment tools work well for culturally diverse populations and across the lifespan, explicitly including children and older adults, where common tools can fail due to differences in literacy, cognition, eating patterns, caregiving dynamics, or technology access and usability.

A significant component of the FOA is the use of technology, either through improved technology development or smarter applications of existing technology. That can include mobile apps, wearable sensors, image-based food records, passive sensing, GPS or contextual data streams, web-based recalls, and linked platforms that reduce burden while increasing fidelity. Alongside technology, the FOA calls for advances in statistical methods and modeling to improve assessment and to correct for measurement errors or biases. This includes methods to combine multiple imperfect measures, develop error models, adjust estimates for systematic bias, and improve inference when diet and activity data are noisy or incomplete. Another encouraged direction is research that treats diet and physical activity as multidimensional behaviors rather than single metrics, using pattern analysis (for example dietary patterns, temporal activity patterns, or combined behavior profiles) and integrated measurement that captures both diet and activity along with environmental context, such as where behaviors occur, the built environment, food availability, or social and situational factors that shape choices.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S. organizations and governments, reflecting an intent to attract a wide range of methodological expertise and community-relevant innovation. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township, and special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (outside of higher education); for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly names additional eligible applicant categories such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, U.S. territories or possessions, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations). This breadth signals that projects can be grounded in academic research, public sector practice, community implementation settings, or cross-sector partnerships, particularly when improving measurement for populations that are often underserved by standard tools.

Key administrative details provided in the source include an award ceiling of $200,000 (as listed in the opportunity data), NIH as the funding agency, and multiple CFDA program numbers associated with NIH institutes and centers that commonly support nutrition, physical activity, behavioral measurement, and related health research. The opportunity record lists an original closing date of July 17, 2018 and a creation date of November 2, 2017. Even if the posted closing date is historical, the summary content is still useful for understanding the scope and priorities of this specific FOA: high-impact innovations in diet and physical activity assessment methodology, with strong attention to diverse populations, modern technology, rigorous evaluation, and analytical techniques that directly address measurement error and real-world complexity.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health, income security and social services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R21 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.233, 93.273, 93.321, 93.361, 93.393, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.847, 93.865.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-11-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-07-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

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