The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as ...

( act) signed on October 11, 1966 by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the

National School Lunch Program The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through ...

(NSLP) to help meet the nutritional needs of children." The National School Lunch Program feeds 30.5 million children per day (as of 2007). NSLP was operated in over 101,000 public and nonprofit private schools in 2007.''Amber Waves''
, September 2008,

USDA Economic Research Service The Economic Research Service (ERS) is a component of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States. It provides information and research on agriculture and econom ...

The Special Milk Program, functioning since 1954, was extended to June 30, 1970 and incorporated into the act. The act also provided Federal funding assistance towards non-food purchases for school equipment. The act established the

School Breakfast Program The School Breakfast Program is a federally funded meal program that provides free and reduced cost breakfasts to children at public and private schools, and child care facilities in the United States. All children in participating schools and ...

, a federally assisted meal program that provides low-cost or free breakfasts to children in

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and non-profit schools as well as

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

institutions. During the signing of the act, the president remarked that "good food is essential to good learning."

Importance

It is important for food programs such as these in schools because some students may receive all their meals from school. According to the CDC, a poor diet can lead to energy imbalance (e.g., eating more calories than one expends through physical activity) and can increase one’s risk for overweight and obesity. Without a well balanced diet it could cause a child's brain to not develop normally (Berger, 172). Children may be malnourished and could possibly suffer from Protein-calorie malnutrition (Berger 172). In the long run if children do suffer from lack of nutrients it will not only impede brain growth but affect their ability to learn as well (Berger, 172). Some students have recognized the importance of a well balanced diet and started programs on a local level. Programs like the School Food Plus Initiative & E.A.T.W.I.S.E (Cooper, 54). Parents are also getting in on the action and have formed school district wellness committees around the country. They are looking forward to developing wellness policies that will charge local school districts with setting targets for nutrition education (Cooper, 84).

Nutrition standards

The National School Breakfast Program feeds 10 million children each day, and the

feeds more than 30 million students. However, the national standards and meal requirements for these meals were created more than a decade ago. The planning model used to develop current nutritional standards and related meal requirements is based on legislation (USDA, 1995) that provided specifications for use of 1995 Dietary Guidelines for American and the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances (Stallings, 89). This model considers needs of the entire population of school children rather than specific individuals (Stallings, 91). The

William F. Goodling William Franklin Goodling (December 5, 1927 – September 17, 2017) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. At the time of his death, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Goodling Institute for Rese ...

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998 () extended expiring authorizations for child nutrition and Commodity Assistance Programs, and the WIC program, through

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

2003. Among other things, this

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

significantly expanded the availability of federal subsidies (through the

school lunch program The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through ...

and the CACFP) for snacks served in after-school programs and authorized demonstration projects providing free breakfasts for elementary school children without regard to family income. Modest revisions were made to child nutrition and WIC program rules. The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 (, ) required that all school districts with a federally funded school meal program develop wellness policies that address nutrition and physical activity. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program ( Food and Nutrition Service) was also designed to increase fruit and vegetables available to schools. In 2008, a farm bill called for gradual expansion of program to all states by 2012. In the fall of 2009 the Institute of Medicine recommended updates and revisions to the school lunch and breakfast programs, at the request of

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

(USDA). The committee reviewed the current regulations for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements. The planning model used to develop current nutritional standards and related meal requirements is based on legislation (USDA,1995) that provided specifications for use of 1995 Dietary Guidelines for American and the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances (NRC, 1989). To meet its task, the IOM committee also reviewed and assessed the food and nutritional needs of school-aged children in the United States using the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set by the

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

(HHS) and USDA, as well as the IOM’s Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). The committee recommends numerous revisions and that emphasis be placed on revised Meal Requirements rather than on nutrients per se. The committee’s recommended new approach clearly focuses on providing meals that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The final report, ''School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children'' was released in November 2009. The committee recommended that the USDA adopt standards for menu planning, including: * Increasing the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains * Setting a minimum and maximum level of calories * Focusing more on reducing saturated fat and sodium On January 13, 2011, the USDA published new proposed regulations in the Federal Register based on the IOM recommendations, as part of the

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 () is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The law is part of the reauthorization of funding for child nutrition (see the original Child Nutrition Act). It fu ...

Notes

References

External links

About the Child Nutrition Act of 1966

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

"Picking battles: Healthy breakfasts challenge schools"
Laura Burns, ''

The Hook The Hook, or The Hookman, is an urban legend about a killer with a pirate-like hook for a hand attacking a couple in a parked car. In many versions of the story, the killer is typically portrayed as a faceless, silhouetted old man wearing a rai ...

'', February 21, 2008
Review of ''National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program Meal Patterns and Nutrient Standards''
(Editors: Virginia A. Stallings and Christine L. Taylor,

United States National Research Council The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrel ...

, 2008, ), Institute of Medicine
EatWise

School Nutrition Association

No Kid Hungry , End Child Hunger in America

{{Lyndon B. Johnson 1966 in law Acts of the 108th United States Congress United States federal health legislation United States federal welfare and public assistance legislation School meal programs in the United States Acts of the 105th United States Congress

Importance

Nutrition standards

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links