Advocacy Project: Issue Overview

Overview of Goal 19: Nutrition and Overweight


For my advocacy Project, the goal I chose is Goal 19: Nutrition and Overweight, but I decided to pick a different bill because I feel very strongly about nutrition and this topic interested me more.

The bill from THOMAS that is related is:

 

S.581: A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the excluion of combat pay from income for purposes of determining eligibility for child nutrition programs and the special supplemental nutrtion program for women, infants and children.
Sponsor: Sen Bennet, Michael F
Committees: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
Latest Major Action: 3/12/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
My political representative: Sen. Amy Klobuchar

How I would vote on this....

I would ask for a vote of YES for this bill because it is very important that our society starts off with healthy eating habits starting with the elementary setting, rather than learning how it affects your health later in their lifetime.

Who is affected by this issue?

Those who are affected by this issue?

Those who are most affected by this issue are children and their families.  If parents/guardians do not set examples from the start, children will develop poor eating habits that will be hard to break as they grow older. Knowledge is the key thing in preventing disease and weight problems, which is then associated with wellness and overall quality of life. Those who will be negatively affected by this issue will be the government and tax payers who are paying for these programs to promote healthy eating and lifestyles.

Consequences of the issue?

The positive effects of this issue will be healthier children, which will then lead to a healthier society overall. When children are practicing healthy habits in school, they will then take those skills home to their families and the knowledge will be passed on to their families as well,making the family healthier as a whole as well. Learning healthy lifestyles at an early age will prevent health problems later in life, which at the same time could cause a negative effect in the health field when they will not be needing to purchase medical care as much.

Economic and social impact?

Economic impact would be that taxpayers and government would have to dish out money for these school based programs. Healthier foods tend to be more expensive, which causes our society to opt out for the cheaper, less healthy items today. Many taxpayers who do not have elementary aged children could be opposed to this bill, while many who do have elementary aged children will be positively benefiting from this action. Social impact will be there will be a healthier flow in elementary schools which will cause many schools to be healthier as a whole when it comes to disease and illness.  Throughout the school day, germs and illnesses are spread very easily from child to child.  Knowledge on being healthy will help build immune systems so the illnesses and diseases can be reduced in schools. This leads to a better social stand.

Barriers?

Once again a strong barrier would be money needed to fund these programs and healthier food options in schools.  Also, there will be many people who do not want to put in the effort to start these programs.  There will need to be teachers and committees who are willing to put in extra time to implement and evaluate these programs.

Resources?

Resources for this issue would be time and people who are willing to put effort into these programs. There would need to be lots of extra time beyond the work day to work on setting goals and implementing these goals.

History of Issue?

Much has been done since the rising of this issue appeared. In 2004, President Bush passed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act. This act states that to provide children with increased access to food and nutrition assistance, to simplify program operations and improve program management, to reauthorize child nutrition programs, and for other purposes. Basically the main point of this act is to make sure there are healthy options for kids to chose when picking out their own meals and snacks at school, and also easing the process for low income families as well.

Allies and Opponents?

People who would support this issue would be parents/guardians of children, teachers,governmental authorities, doctors, and children themselves. Opponents of this issue would be tax payers who would have to pay more, school officials who might have to put in more time at work, and children who might think this issue is non beneficial and boring.