As you remember from previous posts- the Child Nutrition Act has been introduced in the Senate and moved out of Committee.  This month, a bipartisan group of members in the U.S. House introduced a similar bill to reauthorize and amend the Child Nutrition Act, “Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act.”  The bill is posted at Improving Nutrition for Americas Children Act, but it’s 253 pages long- so don’t print!

The bill in the Senate to include elements of our Empower Pack . The Amendment directs the Secretary of Agriculture to work with the Secretary of HHS to encourage state licensing agencies to include wellness standards within state licensing standards in order to ensure that licensed and regulated child care centers and family child care homes provide physical activity opportunities, limit screen time and offer food consistent with the healthy meals patterns and nutrition standards.  More than 31 million school kids participate in the National School Lunch Program and 11 million qualify for the School Breakfast Program. Many children get ½ of their daily calories at schools- making this program a great leverage point to improve nutrition for kids by placing more rigorous nutrition standards on the foods that are served in the program.