The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

( act) signed on October 11, 1966 by President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

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

National School Lunch Program The 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 subsidies to school ...

(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 eco ...

The

Special Milk Program In the United States, the Special Milk Program, sometimes known as the School Milk Program, offers federal reimbursements for milk served to children in an eligible participating outlet, which includes schools, child care institutions, settleme ...

, 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, a federally assisted meal program that provides low-cost or free

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...

s to children in

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and non-profit schools as well as

child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

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 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

, 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 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

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 Res ...

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

WIC program The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutrition o ...

, through

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a 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. La ...

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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

significantly expanded the availability of federal subsidies (through the school lunch program 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 The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to add ...

) 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 The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

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 an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

(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 US federal government created to protect the health of the US people 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 The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...

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 f ...

Notes

References

External links

About the Child Nutrition Act of 1966

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

"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 r ...

'', 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 (NASEM), also known as the National Academies, is a congressionally chartered organization that serves as the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name i ...

, 2008, ),

EatWise

School Nutrition Association

No Kid Hungry , End Child Hunger in America

{{Lyndon B. Johnson 1966 in American 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