Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) | PA 18 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 18 010

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding opportunity titled "Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" (Funding Opportunity Number: PA-18-010) supports research projects aimed at improving how scientists measure what people eat and how physically active they are. The central goal is to strengthen the quality, accuracy, and usefulness of dietary intake and physical activity measurements, since these data are foundational for understanding health outcomes, designing effective interventions, and shaping public health guidance. The mechanism is an R01 research project grant, and clinical trials are allowed but not required, meaning applicants may propose observational, methodological, or intervention-related work as long as the focus is on advancing assessment methodology.

The FOA places a clear emphasis on innovation in measurement. It encourages the development of entirely new assessment approaches as well as meaningful improvements to existing tools. This can include designing better self-report instruments (for example, recalls, questionnaires, logs, or ecological momentary assessment approaches), creating or refining objective measures (such as wearable sensors and device-based tracking), and building hybrid systems that combine self-report with technology-generated data in a way that improves validity and reduces burden. A major theme is rigor: not just creating tools, but improving how tools are evaluated, calibrated, and validated so that resulting data are more accurate and comparable across studies.

A key priority is ensuring that assessment methods work well for culturally diverse populations and across different life stages. The announcement explicitly highlights the need for tools that are appropriate for various age groups, including children and older adults, where measurement challenges can be different (for instance, reliance on caregivers for reporting in children, cognitive or functional limitations in older adults, or differences in typical activity patterns and dietary habits across groups). Proposals that address cultural relevance, language, literacy, and real-world feasibility in diverse communities align strongly with the intent of the FOA, because measurement bias and poor fit can lead to systematic errors that distort research findings and widen health inequities.

Technology development and improved applications of existing technology are also central to this opportunity. Projects might involve smartphones, image-based food records, barcode scanning, passive sensing, GPS and location context, accelerometry and other wearables, or emerging sensor approaches that can better capture intensity, type, and timing of physical activity or features of dietary intake. The FOA is interested in practical advances, such as reducing participant burden, improving adherence and completeness of data capture, enhancing real-time data collection, and making tools scalable for larger studies or community settings.

The FOA also invites work on statistical methods and modeling to improve assessment and to address measurement error and bias. This includes developing analytic techniques that correct for systematic underreporting or overreporting, integrating multiple imperfect measures to estimate "true" intake or activity, improving calibration methods against reference standards, and building models that can handle missing data, reactivity (people changing behavior because they are being measured), and day-to-day variation. Because dietary intake and physical activity are notoriously difficult to measure precisely, robust error correction and modern modeling approaches can have a large downstream impact on the credibility of nutrition and activity research.

Another highlighted direction is research that treats diet and physical activity as multidimensional behaviors rather than single variables. The FOA encourages pattern analysis and integrated measurement approaches that capture behaviors in context. This can mean studying dietary patterns instead of individual nutrients, characterizing activity across domains (work, leisure, transportation), and linking behavior to environmental context such as where eating and activity occur, neighborhood or built environment factors, and temporal patterns across the day or week. Integrated methods that measure diet and physical activity together, rather than as separate silos, are especially relevant when the objective is to understand how these behaviors interact in real life.

In terms of eligibility, the opportunity is broadly accessible. Eligible applicants include many types of U.S. government entities (state, county, city/township governments; special districts), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, independent school districts, and a wide range of higher education institutions (public/state-controlled and private). Nonprofit organizations are eligible whether or not they hold 501(c)(3) status, and for-profit organizations (other than small businesses) as well as small businesses may apply. Federally recognized Native American tribal governments and other Native American tribal organizations are eligible, and the FOA further emphasizes inclusion of institutions and organizations that often serve specific communities. The "other eligible applicants" category explicitly calls out 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), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs). It also notes faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, U.S. territories or possessions, regional organizations, tribal governments that are not federally recognized, and non-U.S. entities (foreign organizations), signaling an openness to a wide range of research settings and partnerships when they strengthen the science of measurement.

Administratively, this is a discretionary grant under NIH, with an activity focus spanning education, food and nutrition, and health. Multiple CFDA program numbers are associated with the FOA (93.213, 93.233, 93.273, 93.321, 93.393, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847), reflecting how diet and physical activity measurement research can align with different NIH institutes and disease areas. The source record shows an original closing date of July 17, 2018, and a creation date of November 2, 2017; applicants would typically need to verify whether the opportunity remains active, has been reissued, or has successor announcements, but the scientific priorities described here capture what NIH was seeking to fund through this mechanism.

Overall, the FOA is designed to push the field beyond incremental tweaks by supporting methodological research that makes diet and physical activity data more accurate, less biased, more inclusive, and more context-aware. Projects that combine innovation with strong validation plans, attention to diverse populations, and thoughtful statistical handling of measurement error are especially well aligned with the program’s intent.

• The National Institutes of Health in the education, food and nutrition, health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Diet and Physical Activity Assessment Methodology (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.213, 93.233, 93.273, 93.321, 93.393, 93.399, 93.837, 93.838, 93.839, 93.840, 93.847.
• 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.)
• 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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