[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 156 (Friday, October 31, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2195-E2196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE HEALTHY CHILDREN THROUGH BETTER NUTRITION ACT OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 30, 2003

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able 
to introduce along with 20 of my Democratic colleagues on the Education 
and the Workforce Committee, the Healthy Children Through Better 
Nutrition Act of 2003.
  Since coming to Congress in 1975, I have been a steadfast advocate of 
child nutrition programs and the significant role they play in meeting 
the health and educational needs of our nation's children. In my first 
year in Congress, along with Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, I authored the 
Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program, and the 
role of this program, and other nutrition programs, in improving the 
health, safe development, and school performance of our nation's 
children remains as strong as at that time.
  I have seen first hand--at school cafeterias, summer programs and WIC 
clinics--children who receive their only meals through our federal 
nutrition programs. Today, the challenge to increase access to these 
programs for low-income children remains, and the programs must meet 
new demands.
  Mr. Speaker, our children face a health threat that requires our 
immediate attention and response. We know that over the past thirty 
years, the childhood obesity rate has tripled. Among teenagers, 
childhood obesity increased from 5 percent in 1970 to 14 percent in 
1999. This crisis spans age, race and gender groups and is leading to 
significant increases in the early onset of traditionally adult 
diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease in young 
children. Leading medical researchers believe that--in conjunction with 
expanded exercise and nutritional education--improving the quality of 
foods served in schools can have a significantly beneficial effect on 
reducing childhood obesity and its related health effects.
  The Healthy Children Through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 offers a 
multifaceted school- and community-based approach to responding to this 
dangerous trend in childhood obesity. School- and community-based 
nutrition programs have been serving the nutritional needs of American 
children for over 50 years. Today, it is well recognized that schools 
and communities have an even greater task in responding to the needs of 
children and families who face daily challenges in securing a healthy 
and nutritious meal. The Healthy Children Through Better Nutrition Act 
of 2003 provides schools and communities with the tools and resources 
they need to promote a healthy and nutritious environment for children 
in need.


                        School-based Initiatives

  Federal school nutrition programs serve about 28 million children 
daily through school breakfast, school lunch and after-school snack 
programs. It is not unusual for a child to receive two-thirds of her 
daily diet while at school.
  Meals served under these federal school nutrition programs must meet 
American Dietary Guidelines, and we congratulate the school food 
service program that continues to make real progress toward meeting 
these goals. However, the school cafeteria also plays host to foods 
that lack any significant nutritional value. These foods, sold side by 
side with the national school meals menu, are not subject to any 
dietary guidelines and can have a negative impact on healthy eating and 
student participation in the school meals program.
  The Miller/Woolsey proposal will direct the Institutes of Medicine to 
recommend nutritional standards for foods sold side-by-side with foods 
that are offered as part of the federal school meals in the cafeteria. 
These standards would take into consideration the different dietary 
requirements of students in elementary, middle and high schools.
  These recommendations would be submitted to the Secretary of 
Agriculture for implementation.
  School food directors are in the best position and are most qualified 
to make decisions about the nutritional quality of foods made available 
to students. Unfortunately, in many schools, school food directors have 
little authority to implement policies that encourage a healthy school 
nutrition environment. The school food director often faces competing 
interests from school administrators to increase revenues through the 
sale of foods outside of the federal school meals program, such as 
soda, high fat and high sodium snacks. These ``competitive foods'' do 
not meet the nutritional standards we want for our children. The 
growing revenue constraints faced by many school districts have 
increased the proportion of unhealthy competitive foods in the 
cafeteria and has negatively impacted the school nutrition environment.
  The Miller/Woolsey proposal will require schools to establish a 
nutrition policy and give operation authority to the school food 
directors. This approach coordinated with new standards for 
``competitive foods'' will strengthen and protect the integrity and 
nutritional quality of the school meals program.
  While school food service authorities have made progress improving 
the quality of school meals, consumer confidence remains low. Currently 
menus are reviewed for nutritional quality once every five years, and 
few schools publish the nutrient quality of their menus.
  The Miller/Woolsey proposal will increase the number of nutritional 
reviews of school menus and require that this information be disclosed 
to the public. Technical assistance will be offered to schools that 
need additional assistance in improving the quality of meals.
  The Farm Bill established a limited pilot in 4 states to provide for 
the introduction of more fresh fruits and vegetables into the school 
meals program. The increased availability of fresh fruits and 
vegetables produced a dramatic difference in the dietary intake of 
students in those schools.
  The Miller/Woolsey proposal will expand the number of states and 
schools participating in this successful program, targeting schools in 
high poverty areas.
  Nutrition Education provides students with meaningful information on 
the importance of good dietary habits as well as professional 
development for nutritional professionals and teachers. The lack of 
guaranteed funding for nutrition education has limited states in their 
ability to provide assistance to LEAs.
  The Miller/Woolsey proposal will authorize mandatory funding for a 
nutrition education program that will fund a Team Nutrition Network 
State Coordinator in each state and promote a coordinated approach for 
nutrition education.
  The Healthy Children through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 also: 
Streamlines eligibility requirements for school meals for children who 
are currently eligible for Food Stamps, TANF and Medicaid; makes 
homeless children automatically eligible for school nutrition programs; 
provides startup and expansion grants for school breakfast; provides 
schools with commodities for the school breakfast program; establishes 
a demonstration project to evaluate the impact of universal breakfast 
in high schools; and provides grants to schools for improving the use 
of technology in the school meals program.


                      Community-based Initiatives

  The community outside of the schoolhouse is playing an enhanced role 
in meeting the nutritional needs of children. The Healthy Children 
Through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 introduces a new program to 
eliminate paperwork and streamline participation requirements for 
community-based providers of nutrition programs.
  The Year Round Community Child Nutrition program fills a gap in 
current nutrition services for children in before and after care 
programs, homeless shelters, and after-school programs. Currently 
community-based programs, such as after school programs and homeless 
shelters, serve up to 2 meals and a snack to the children participating 
in their programs. Some of these programs run only during the summer, 
other programs run full year but must submit paperwork for two separate 
programs in order to serve children year round. Under this legislation, 
the Year Round Community Child Nutrition program will:
  Allow community-based non-profit organizations to serve healthy and 
nutritious meals to children year round.
  Offer up to three meals and two snacks to children who participate.
  Make 21st Century Community Learning Centers automatically eligible 
to participate.
  Give program providers greater flexibility in when and where meals 
are served.
  The Healthy Children Through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 also:
  Allows more states to serve an additional meal to children in full 
day childcare programs.
  Allows homeless children up to 18 years of age to receive meals 
Through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) program.
  Provides startup and expansion grants for the summer food program.
  Streamlines paperwork for summer food providers.
  Eliminates unnecessary paperwork for CACFP providers.
  Establishes a demonstration project for streamlining the monitoring 
of CACFP providers.

[[Page E2196]]

                                  WIC

  The WIC program continues to be successful in improving the 
nutritional status of over 7 million low-income women, infants, and 
children. The Healthy Children Through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 
enables WIC to be more flexible in meeting the needs of women and 
children at risk, while promoting a highly nutritious food package.
  This legislation: Emphasizes greater consumption of fruits and 
vegetables in the WIC program; Allows infants and children to be 
certified for the WIC program for up to 1 year and allows offices to 
waive the ``physical presence'' requirement for infants and children 
under specific circumstances; and requires a decennial review of the 
WIC food package.
  Mr. Speaker, as the Committee moves forward with the reauthorization 
of child and school nutrition programs, I encourage my colleagues to 
review the set of proposals in the Healthy Children Through Better 
Nutrition Act of 2003. This legislation which has been endorsed by the 
American School Food Service Association, the Food Research Action 
Center, America's 2nd Harvest and California Food Policy Advocates, 
offers a comprehensive means for improving access to child nutrition 
programs and addressing the troubling rise in childhood obesity rates. 
The Healthy Children Through Better Nutrition Act of 2003 reflects a 
commitment to the future by investing in our children's nutrition and 
overall health. They deserve no less.

                          ____________________