Title: APHA Advocacy and Policy News
Author:
Section/SPIG: Food and Nutrition
Issue Date:
CHILD NUTRITION AND WIC REAUTHORIZATION MOVING FORWARD
On March 25, 2004, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3873, “The Child Nutrition Improvement & Integrity Act,” by a vote of 419 to 5. The bill would reauthorize through 2008 and makes some legislative changes to WIC, the National School Lunch Program and other child nutrition programs. The bill fails to set federal standards for foods sold in schools (such as fast food) that competes with food sold specifically through the traditional school lunch program. APHA supports the inclusion of provisions to require nutritional guidelines for these so-called “competitive foods.” A summary of the bill prepared by the House Education and the Workforce Committee is available on the Web at: <http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/108th/education/childnutrition/billsummary.htm>. A summary prepared by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is available on the web at <http://www.frac.org/pdf/HR3873analysis.pdf>. The Statement of Administration policy on this bill is available at: <http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/108-2/hr3873sap-h.pdf>. The Congressional Budget Office cost estimate and analysis are available at <http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5255&sequence=0>.
On May 19, 2004, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee by unanimous voice vote passed the “Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004.” A summary and the full text of the Committee bill are available on the Web at <http://agriculture.senate.gov/nutri/reauth.htm>.
APHA Actions: AHPA policy 2003-19 Support for WIC and Child Nutrition Programs (written by the FN section, and available on the Web at <http://www.apha.org/legislative/policy/2003/2003-019.pdf> provides policy guidance for the organization. Consistent with this policy, APHA supports a set of recommendations that were shared with members of Congress as they consider the reauthorization and legislative changes for WIC, the National School Lunch Program and other child nutrition programs. The recommendations can be viewed at <http://www.apha.org/legislative/factsheets/ChildNutrition.pdf>.
To read more about current issues on APHA legislation, advocacy and policy, visit <http://www.apha.org/legislative/>
SCOPE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND AGING
In 2001, the APHA Executive Board approved the establishment of a Task Force on Aging (TFA), with mandated representation from all APHA Sections, Caucuses, and SPIGs. Guiding objectives of the APHA TFA are:
1. Raise awareness and promote education about aging within the APHA.
2. Recommend ways to improve public health infrastructure in the context of aging.
3. Develop and advocate for public policies that will improve the health and well being of the aging population throughout the world.
To help meet these objectives, TFA has created a "Scopes" document, identifying areas in which public health and aging interface. To view the entire document and learn more about TFA, click on the link below.
Related Files:
ACF2F34.doc