Obama Signs Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into Law

With over seventeen million children living in food insecure households and one out of every three children in America now considered overweight or obese, schools often are on the front lines of our national challenge to combat childhood obesity and improve children’s overall health.

12/14/2010 --- US President Obama has signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010, a $4.5-billion measure that allocates more money to poor areas to subsidize free meals and requires schools to abide by health guidelines drafted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The legislation was championed by first lady Michelle Obama and her "Let's Move" campaign to combat child obesity in the United States.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is claimed to represent a major step forward in the nation’s effort to provide all children with healthy food in schools. Increasingly schools are playing a central role in children’s health. Over 31 million children receive meals through the school lunch program and many children receive most, if not all, of their meals at school. With over seventeen million children living in food insecure households and one out of every three children in America now considered overweight or obese, schools often are on the front lines of our national challenge to combat childhood obesity and improve children’s overall health. This legislation includes significant improvements that will help provide children with healthier and more nutritious food options, educate children about making healthy food choices, and teach children healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 authorizes funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs and increases access to healthy food for low-income children. The bill that reauthorizes these programs is often referred to by shorthand as the child nutrition reauthorization bill. This particular bill reauthorizes child nutrition programs for five years and includes $4.5 billion in new funding for these programs over 10 years.

Many of the programs featured in the Act do not have a specific expiration date, but Congress is periodically required to review and reauthorize funding. This reauthorization presents an important opportunity to strengthen programs to address more effectively the needs of our nation’s children and young adults.

The basics of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 are as follows:

Gives USDA the authority to set nutritional standards for all foods regularly sold in schools during the school day, including vending machines, the “a la carte” lunch lines, and school stores.
Provides additional funding to schools that meet updated nutritional standards for federally-subsidized lunches. This is an historic investment, the first real reimbursement rate increase in over 30 years.
Helps communities establish local farm to school networks, create school gardens, and ensures that more local foods are used in the school setting.
Builds on USDA work to improve nutritional quality of commodity foods that schools receive from USDA and use in their breakfast and lunch programs.
Expands access to drinking water in schools, particularly during meal times.

Sets basic standards for school wellness policies including goals for nutrition promotion and education and physical activity, while still permitting local flexibility to tailor the policies to their particular needs.
Promotes nutrition and wellness in child care settings through the federally-subsidized Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Expands support for breastfeeding through the WIC program.

Increases the number of eligible children enrolled in school meal programs by approximately 115,000 students by using Medicaid data to directly certify children who meet income requirements.
Helps certify an average additional 4,500 students per year to receive school meals by setting benchmarks for states to improve the certification process.
Allows more universal meal access for eligible students in high poverty communities by eliminating paper applications and using census data to determine school-wide income eligibility.
Expands USDA authority to support meals served to at-risk children in afterschool programs.

Requires school districts to be audited every three years to improve compliance with nutritional standards.
Requires schools to make information more readily available to parents about the nutritional quality of meals.
Includes provisions to ensure the safety of school foods like improving recall procedures and extending hazard analysis and food safety requirements for school meals throughout the campus.
Provides training and technical assistance for school food service providers.

USDA will work with states, school districts and neighborhoods to implement the provisions of the bill and Americans will start to see changes in their communities over time.

U.S. Secretary Of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said "Today is a great day for kids throughout our country as they will soon have healthier, and more nutritious food in their schools. As we continue to focus on the twin issues of childhood obesity and hunger, we will increase access to good, quality meals in school cafeterias so the nutritional needs of our youngsters are better met. The President and First Lady have advocated strongly for passing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, and, this bill, along with the resources and the powers provided under it, are going to allow USDA to be much more effective and aggressive in responding to obesity and hunger challenges for America's kids."

The American Beverage Association (ABA) today commends President Barack Obama for signing into law the "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act," a bill that will provide necessary funding to federal child nutrition programs.

"Our industry applauds President Obama and Members of Congress for ensuring that this significant piece of legislation advanced and was signed into law this year," Susan K. Neely, ABA president and CEO, said. "Moving forward, as part of the federal regulations, we urge USDA to consider and adopt our national School Beverage Guidelines as they are a standard that is already in place and working."

CSPI Director of Nutrition Policy Margo G. Wootan said “Getting junk food out of schools has been ten years in the making. This bill is a historic step toward reducing childhood obesity and helping parents feed their children better. It’s the result of the hard work of many, but would not have passed without this Administration’s leadership. The President's and First Lady's tireless advocacy brought the child nutrition bill back to life several times as it made its way through Congress.”