Reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act

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Reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act

• James Vanderhook
• National PTA
• Legislative Conference
• March 11, 2009

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PTA Child Health History

• Played pivotal roles in the creation of both the
  U.S. Public Health Service and the Department of
  Health and Human Services.
• In 1923, PTA worked to ensure the provision of
  hot lunches in schools.
• In the 1940s and 1950s, PTA was involved in the
  establishment and expansion of the school milk
  programs.
• Worked to ensure enactment of the Special
  Supplemental Nutrition Service for Women,
  Infants, and Children (WIC) in 1972
• PTA also worked to ensure the original passage of
  both the National School Lunch Act and the Child
  Nutrition Act.

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Child Nutrition Act

• Originally signed into law by President Lyndon B.
  Johnson on October 11, 1966
• Last reauthorized in 2004
• Up for reauthorization in 2009
• Programs will expire unless Congress acts by
  September 30, 2009

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Programs Under the Child Nutrition Act

• School Breakfast Program
• National School Lunch Program
• Summer Food Service Program
• Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
  Infants and Children (WIC)
• Local Wellness Policies

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School Breakfast Program

• Established as a pilot project in 1966
• Provides breakfast to nearly 10 million students
  in approximately 82,000 schools nationwide
• School breakfast meal patterns are currently
  being updated to reflect the 2005 Dietary
  Guidelines for Americans (published jointly every
  five years by the Department of Health and Human
  Services and the Department of Agriculture)

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Key Fact

• According to a 1998 study of the Journal of the
  American Academy of Child Adolescent
  Psychiatry, eating breakfast helps children
  achieve in school and grow up healthy and strong

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National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

• Established with the passage of the Richard B.
  Russell National School Lunch Act in 1946 to
  support military conscription and alleviate
  general health concerns stemming from a general
  lack of nutrition in the aftermath of the Great
  Depression
• Over 30 million students participate in the NSLP
  every day in over 100,000 schools nationwide
• In 2007, over 5 billion lunches served under the
  NSLP
• School lunch meal patterns are also currently
  being updated to reflect the 2005 Dietary
  Guidelines for Americans
• Students in the NSLP eat twice as many servings
  of vegetables at lunch as non-participants

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NSLP Meal Participation
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History of School Meal Program Spending
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Summer Food Service Program

• Created in 1968 as part of the Special Food
  Service pilot program
• Provides free meals and snacks to children in
  low-income areas throughout the summer months
  when they are out of school
• In 2007, served over 120 million free, nutritious
  meals to low-income children

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Child and Adult Care Food Program

• Also created in 1968 as part of the Special Food
  Service pilot program
• Provides nutritious meals and snacks to children
  and adults each day, making day care for children
  and elderly adults more affordable for millions
  of low-income families
• Serves nearly 3 million children and over 85,000
  adults each year

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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC)

• Created in 1972 amidst growing concerns about
  lower income children suffering from anemia and
  inadequate growth which adversely affect brain
  size and cognitive ability
• Provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition
  education and counseling, screenings and
  referrals to other health, welfare and social
  services
• In 2007, served over 8 million eligible
  low-income pregnant and postpartum women,
  infants, and children up to age 5

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Local Wellness Policies

• Required as part of the 2004 Reauthorization of
  the Child Nutrition Act due in part to the
  advocacy of PTA and its coalition partners
• Required involvement of parents, students, school
  food authority representatives, school board,
  school administrators, and the public
• Must include goals for nutrition education,
  physical activity, nutrition guidelines for all
  foods available on school grounds throughout the
  school day, and a plan for measuring
  implementation

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Surrounding Circumstances

• Childhood Overweight and Obesity
• Food Insecurity

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Childhood Overweight and Obesity
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(No Transcript)
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Child Obesity Trends

• Prevalence of Obesity Among U.S. Children and
  Adolescents(Aged 2 19 Years)National Health
  and Nutrition Examination Surveys

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Key Fact

• For individuals born in the year 2000, the risk
  of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at some
  point in their lifetimes is estimated at 33 for
  boys and 39 for girls.

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Key Fact

• A 2003 study showed that overweight and obesity
  account for approximately 9 of all U.S. medical
  spending

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Food Insecurity
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Key Fact

• In 2004, nearly 18 of all U.S. households with
  children were classified as food insecure.

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Key Leaders

• What do the federal decision makers think when it
  comes to child nutrition?

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Stated Priorities of President Barack Obama

• Eliminate child hunger by 2015
• Increase child nutrition funding by 1 billion
  per year (currently around 15 billion per year)
• Improve program access
• Enhance the nutritional quality of school meals
• Expand nutrition research
• Evaluate and improve program oversight

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Secretary of Agriculture

• Its going to be important for us to promote
  fresh fruits and vegetables as part of our
  childrens diets.
• - Tom Vilsack

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Chairman of Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition and Forestry

• If we make sure that foods and beverages kids
  consume in schools are more nutritious,
  healthier, and properly balanced, we will prevent
  diseases and medical conditions that impair and
  cut short lives and cost a lot of money to
  treat.
• - Sen. Tom Harkin

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National PTA Recommendations

• Require policies for the provision of recess,
  physical education, and regulation of food
  marketing in schools to be included in local
  wellness policies

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National PTA Recommendations

• Require periodic assessments of the development,
  notification, implementation, and content of
  local wellness policies

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National PTA Recommendations

• Provide competitive grant funding through the
  USDA Team Nutrition Network contingent upon the
  achievement of local wellness policy goals.

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National PTA Recommendations

• Increase Reimbursement Rates for School Meals

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NSLP Reimbursement Rates
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Key Fact

• According to the School Nutrition Associations
  2008 Back to School Nutrition Trends Report,
  97.5 of school nutrition director respondents
  expect to experience increased food costs for the
  2008-2009 school year

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National PTA Recommendations

• Require the USDA to update the national nutrition
  standards for school foods sold outside of the
  school meals programs in order to keep pace with
  emerging scientific evidence about nutrition

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National PTA Recommendations

• Require the employment of qualified nutrition
  professionals, or the consultation thereof, at
  the district level for school food services

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What do we mean by cooking?
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National PTA Recommendations

• Authorize non-food assistance grants to allow
  schools to purchase food preparation equipment
  and address some of the start-up costs associated
  with improving kitchen facilities

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American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

• Signed into law by President Obama on February
  17, 2009.
• Provides 500 million for the Special
  Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
  Infants, and Children (WIC)
• Provides 100 million for non-food equipment
  grants under the National School Lunch Program

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National PTA Recommendations

• Increase the promotion of universal meals
  programs and reduce the administrative and
  paperwork barriers that limit participation

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National PTA Recommendations

• Increase funding for the Department of Defense
  Fresh program, or its equivalent, placing an
  emphasis on the purchase and procurement of local
  produce wherever possible

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Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
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National PTA Recommendations

• Require the development of best practices for the
  processing of USDA commodities in order to align
  more closely these products with the 2005 Dietary
  Guidelines