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NIH grant 1R01CE003809-01: Nourishing Safety: A Family-Centered Food Equity Strategy to Prevent Youth Firearm Violence
Institute: {'code': 'CE', 'abbreviation': 'NCIPC', 'name': 'National Center for Injury Prevention and Control', 'admin_org_id': '12501083', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Nicholas David Thomson. Award: $650000.
Start: 2026-09-30T00:00:00.
Abstract
Firearm-related violence remains a major public health crisis in the United States, disproportionately affecting
African American youth due to systemic inequities, including historical redlining and economic disinvestment.
Food security and nutrition have emerged as critical yet underappreciated factors in addressing youth gun
violence. Research indicates that diets lacking essential nutrients, common in food deserts where affordable
healthy options are scarce, contribute to neurocognitive dysfunction, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation,
which increases the risk of violence. This application was developed in response to RFA-CE-25-030 Funding
Option B. This proposal aims to evaluate an innovative intervention targeting youth gun violence through healthy
food access, designed to mitigate these risk factors while fostering sustainable dietary change in underserved
communities. This study will employ a dual-intervention randomized controlled trial to compare the effects of a
comprehensive healthy food intervention against a food security-only intervention and a treatment-as-usual
(TAU) condition. The healthy food intervention will provide three months of brain-nutrient-rich meals, weekly
groceries, and a 10-week caregiver nutrition education. Monthly community-based cooking classes and farm
visits will further support skill-building and the long-term sustainability of healthy eating habits. This design
isolates the impact of nutrient-rich foods on violence reduction, allowing us to differentiate these effects from the
general benefits of improved food security. The study will recruit 210 high-risk youth (aged 10-17) hospitalized
for violence-related injuries, along with their families, focusing on assessing reductions in firearm-related violence
and injury. Secondary aims include identifying malleable biopsychosocial mediators such as physical health,
neurocognitive function, family dynamics, and parenting stress, as well as evaluating the economic efficiency of
the intervention as a gun violence prevention strategy. By positioning healthy food access as a core violence
prevention method, this project addresses structural inequities and may pave the way for cost-effective, scalable
approaches to reducing firearm violence in vulnerable communities. This project addresses CDC’s Research
Funding Option B, Objective 3: Effectiveness research to evaluate approaches that improve the social or
structural conditions that contribute to community violence and racial/ethnic inequities in risk for community
violence.document fetched 2026-10-24 02:47