Presidential Efforts to Reduce Childhood Obesity Arrive to East LA
By EGP News
A top government official visited East Los Angeles late last week to discuss the president’s priorities for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act—legislation now under consideration in Congress—that aims to promote good nutrition and provide meals to children throughout the country.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack met up with elected officials and helped serve nutritious snacks to children at William Anton Elementary School and child development center on March 4. EPG photo by Fred Zermeno
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke with teachers and students at William Anton Elementary School on March 4, before heading over to the East Los Angeles Community Center for a community discussion on child nutrition.
At the meeting, Vilsack told the audience of about 200 people that few people know that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) allocates almost 70 percent of its budget to food programs.
“We are presented with a unique opportunity to improve the health of our children and reduce hunger in this country and we can take a step towards accomplishing those goals with the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act,” said Vilsack, adding that government alone cannot solve hunger and obesity problems and they need the commitment from parents, educators, nutritionists, community leaders and other stakeholders to improve school meals and the general nutrition of America’s children.
“Here at the Early Education and Community Centers we are reaching out directly to those that are on the front line of providing healthier meals, nutrition education and enabling more physical activity,” said Vilsack, later noting his department wants to cut sugar and fat in American children’s diets.
While the country is trying to recover from the economic meltdown, the Obama Administration has proposed a historic investment of adding an additional $10 billion over the next ten years to improvement of the quality of the School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The funds, if approved, would be available in 2011 and would increase the number of children who can qualify for free or reduced lunch, help fund school menu and kitchen changes, including providing training for school cafeteria workers and reimbursing schools for new kitchen equipment.
The investment would directly benefit students through healthier meals that would include additional fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products served in cafeterias across the country, according to the USDA.
In recent years, health advocates have pointed to the easy access to cheap fast-food in low-income communities as one of the reasons children in those communities are at a higher risk of childhood obesity (considered a form of malnutrition) and related diseases.
A strong Child Nutrition Act will reduce hunger, and improve the overall health and nutrition of the next generation of Americans through greater access to healthier food, say proponents of the measure.
At the community discussion, Vilsack also promoted First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative that focuses on both nutrition and physical activity, and expressed his support for obligatory physical education courses in public schools, growing school and community vegetable gardens and offering healthier choices in school vending machines.
For more information on the Child Nutrition Act visit www.usda.gov; for more information on the First Lady’s campaign to reduce and eliminate childhood obesity visit www.LetsMove.gov
Congress is expected to continue hearings on reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act this spring, according to Justin DeJong, press secretary for the USDA Office of Communications.
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March 11, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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