child nutrition
Federal nutrition assistance at risk in a long-running shutdown
Two of the major public nutrition programs, SNAP and WIC, could run out of money if the partial government shutdown persists into February and beyond, affecting millions of people. While the USDA says funding is assured for this month, it is not as clear about what to expect in the future.
Perdue completes overhaul of school food rules
In 2017, on just his sixth day in office, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made chocolate milk safe for schools again, along with white flour and salt, in the name of “regulatory flexibility” for school food programs. On Thursday, the USDA said it will make those changes permanent.
World Food Prize awarded to pair for work on maternal and child nutrition
Two nutrition advocates whose focus on maternal and child nutrition helped reduce the number of stunted children in the world by 10 million in five years are the winners of the World Food Prize for 2018, the award’s sponsor announced on Monday.
Slower growth in school breakfast participation
About half as many children take part in the school breakfast program as the more than 30 million who eat a hot meal through the school lunch program, according to USDA's most recent data. The government and the anti-hunger group Food Research and Action Center say that participation in school breakfast grew at a slower rate during the 2016-17 school year than it did in previous years.
USDA releases a food-buying app for smartphones
Declaring it “a major step forward” for food service workers, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service released its first mobile app, which the agency said will make it easier to serve healthy and tasty meals through its child nutrition programs.
Public spotlight does little to stop ‘lunch shaming’ in schools
Seven months after New Mexico passed a state law against “lunch shaming,” progress to end the practice is slow, writes school-food blogger Bettina Elias Siegel on Civil Eats.
U.S. food insecurity rate stable, which means millions still go hungry
An estimated 12.3 percent of U.S. households were food insecure in 2016, essentially unchanged from 12.7 percent in 2015, the USDA Economic Research Service said. But the figures still mean that more than 41 million Americans, or 15.6 million households, don’t get enough food.
Seven big school districts say they won’t relax school lunch standards
Seven of the largest school districts in the nation say they won’t relax school lunch standards despite Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s offer of flexibility in school meals.
Perdue calls it a slowdown, critics say it’s a rollback of healthy school lunch rules
When the 2017/18 school year opens in late summer, public schools will not have to use more whole grains and less salt in their cafeteria meals unless they want to, and they will be allowed to sell 1 percent flavored milk, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Although he said he was giving schools more flexibility, consumer groups and lawmakers said Perdue was rolling back school-lunch reforms launched under an Obama-era initiative against child obesity.
With no regulations on arsenic in food, experts suggest ‘prudent avoidance’
Arsenic’s reputation as a potent poison has been known since ancient Greeks and Romans used it to dispatch rivals. But scientists are just beginning to get a handle on the risks that come from chronic exposure to low doses of arsenic, which has complicated efforts to regulate the most common route of exposure: through diet.
White House hires opponent of free school lunch
For those trying to read the political tea leaves, there's a connection between a new hire at the White House and congressional action on public nutrition programs. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, hired as chief of staff Renee Hudson, who held the same job with Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita, said the Washington Post. An advocate of school choice, Rokita was sponsor of the 2016 child nutrition bill that would have slashed a program allowing free meals for all students at schools in poor neighborhoods.
Study: Commercial baby foods are a mess around the world
In poorer and middle-income countries, baby food is dangerously unreliable, says a study soon to be out in the journal Maternal and Child Nutrition. The researchers called for an international agency to test and certify the nutritious quality of commercial baby food, says The New York Times.
Study: school lunch improves kids’ diets
The USDA spends $13.7 billion annually on school food, about 10 percent of its budget. But do school food programs improve children’s diets? A new study says yes, especially for low-income students who benefit from free and reduced-price lunch.
Child nutrition bill runs out of time, Roberts blames Democrats and House
A Congressional overhaul of child nutrition programs that cost $22 billion a year is dead, said Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts, who blamed Senate Democrats and objections from the House. House and Senate committees took sharply different directions with their bills; neither chamber voted on a bill during the congressional session that is in its final days.
House GOP chooses Foxx to chair Education Committee
Budget hawk Virginia Foxx of North Carolina will chair the House Education Committee in the session that begins in January, Republican leaders announced. Barring a resolution by lawmakers in the next few days, the committee will have to write a child-nutrition bill next year, repeating the work it did this year.
Healthy eating is ‘the new norm for our kids,’ says First Lady
Having launched a drive against child obesity in 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama celebrated the early signs of progress this week and told a White House audience, "I intend to keep working on this issue for the rest of my life."
Will a doctor in the kitchen lead to healthier children?
Only one in four medical students gets the recommended 25 hours of nutrition training while a medical student, says Texas Public Radio. The Baylor College of Medicine is trying to change that by putting future pediatricians into a teaching kitchen so they can pass along tips on healthful diets to their future patients.
McDonald’s newest business strategy is the breakfast Happy Meal
The kiddos can now start their day off with a little McDonald’s happiness. The company will launch a breakfast-themed happy meal at 73 locations in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, region, with a choice between two McGriddles or an Egg & Cheese McMuffin sans the Canadian bacon.