The House Education and Labor Committee today approved the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act, which would reauthorize federal child nutrition programs and help guarantee that kids are not only fed but have access to the healthy meals they need to learn. The American Heart Association, the world's leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health, issued the following statement:
"Child nutrition reauthorization was last passed by federal lawmakers more than a decade ago, leaving a gap in opportunities to update and improve programs that keep healthy foods on students' plates. The Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act will play an important role in addressing food and nutrition insecurity facing so many families across the country.
"The American Heart Association appreciates the House Education and Labor Committee's work to prioritize children's health and well-being through this critical legislation. The bill builds upon lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, when innovative changes to the programs covered by reauthorization were piloted in real time. Congress must work to ensure a final bill includes key provisions to:
- Protect and strengthen nutrition standards that ensure the food kids eat is healthy.
- Expand access to school meals to more children.
- Increase reimbursement for school meal programs to help ease the financial burden schools are facing.
- Bolster and grow summer feeding programs that prevent kids from going hungry outside of school.
- Modernize and improve the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
"Child nutrition reauthorization is long overdue -- it is a necessity for families and schools to feed children the healthy meals they need for success. We urge quick action and bipartisan support for the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act, which will ultimately help kids thrive and put them on a path to a lifetime of healthy eating."
