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Media Advisory No. 0080.15 Contact: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Discuss National Child Nutrition Strategy, Call on Congress to Reauthorize Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act at National Press Club
WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2015 – TODAY, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver remarks at a National Press Club Newsmakers news conference outlining the Obama Administration’s strategy to improve national nutrition. He will also continue to call on Congress to reauthorize a strong suite of child nutrition programs, including the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act—a key component of that strategy that has helped to improve nutrition for millions of children.
Secretary Vilsack will be joined by American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Sandra Hassink, MD, FAAP, and Jessica Donze Black, director of child nutrition at the Pew Charitable Trusts, who will also provide brief remarks. All three participants will take questions from the media.
For the past three years, kids have eaten healthier breakfasts, lunches and snacks at school thanks to the bipartisan Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which made the first meaningful improvements in 30 years to the national nutrition standards for foods and beverages served in cafeterias and sold in vending machines. Because of progress made in schools since the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, America’s children have more energy to learn and grow, greater opportunity to thrive, and better overall health. A recent poll by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation shows that more than 80 percent of Americans believe the healthier school meals should stay the same or be strengthened.
As Congress turns its attention to reauthorizing the Act this year, America’s children are battling a national obesity epidemic that costs $190.2 billion per year to treat and, according to retired U.S. generals, threatens our national security by making almost one in three young adults unfit to serve in our nation’s military. If we don’t continue to invest in children’s health, this generation will be the first to live shorter lives than their parents.
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015
WHAT: WHERE: Members of the media who wish to attend can RSVP to Tony Gallo, NPC Newsmakers Event Host, 202-544-6973, agallo2368@xxxxxxxxxxx #
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