IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1462 

Supporting the designation of the week of September 16 through September 

20, 2024, as ‘‘Malnutrition Awareness Week’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. LAWLER, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. TOKUDA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Ways and Means, and Education and the Workforce, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the designation of the week of September 16 

through September 20, 2024, as ‘‘Malnutrition Awareness Week’’. 

Whereas malnutrition is the condition that occurs when a 

person does not get enough protein, calories, or nutrients; 

Whereas malnutrition is a significant problem in the United 

States and around the world, crossing all age, racial, 

class, gender, and geographic lines; 

Whereas malnutrition can be driven by social determinants of 

health, including poverty or economic instability, access 

to affordable health care, and low health literacy; 


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Whereas there are inextricable and cyclical links between poverty and malnutrition; 

Whereas the Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as when a person or household does not have regular, 

reliable access to the foods needed for good health; 

Whereas communities of color, across all age groups, are disproportionately likely to experience both food insecurity 

and malnutrition; 

Whereas American Indian and Alaska Native households are 

at significantly greater risk for food insecurity than all 

households in the United States; 

Whereas 1 in 18 Asian Americans and 1 in 5 Pacific Islanders experience food insecurity; 

Whereas Black children are almost 3 times more likely to live 

in a food-insecure household than White children; 

Whereas infants, older adults, people with chronic diseases, 

and other vulnerable populations are particularly at risk 

for malnutrition; 

Whereas the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that 

failure to provide key nutrients during early childhood 

may result in lifelong deficits in brain function; 

Whereas disease-associated malnutrition affects between 30 

and 50 percent of patients admitted to hospitals, and the 

medical costs of hospitalized patients with malnutrition 

can be 300 percent more than the medical costs of properly nourished patients; 

Whereas deaths from malnutrition have increased among 

adults 85 and older since 2013; 

Whereas, according to the ‘‘National Blueprint: Achieving 

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date’’, as many as half of older adults living in the 

United States are malnourished or at risk for malnutrition; 

Whereas, according to recent Aging Network surveys, 76 percent of older adults receiving meals at senior centers and 

other congregate facilities report improved health outcomes, and 84 percent of older adults receiving home-delivered meals indicate the same; 

Whereas disease-associated malnutrition in older adults alone 

costs the United States more than $51,300,000,000 each 

year; and 

Whereas the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral 

Nutrition established ‘‘Malnutrition Awareness Week’’ to 

raise awareness and promote prevention of malnutrition 

across the lifespan: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘Malnutrition 

3 Awareness Week’’; 

4 (2) recognizes registered dietitian nutritionists 

5 and other nutrition professionals, health care pro6 viders, school food service workers, those who pro7 vide home-delivered meals, social workers, advocates, 

8 caregivers, and other professionals and agencies for 

9 their efforts to advance awareness, treatment, and 

10 prevention of malnutrition; 

11 (3) recognizes the importance of existing Fed12 eral nutrition programs, like the Older Americans 

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1 grams and Federal child nutrition programs, for 

2 their role in combating malnutrition, and supports 

3 increased funding for these critical programs; 

4 (4) recognizes— 

5 (A) the importance of medical nutrition 

6 therapy under the Medicare Program under 

7 title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.); and 

9 (B) the need for vulnerable populations to 

10 have adequate access to nutrition counseling; 

11 (5) recognizes the importance of the innovative 

12 research conducted by the National Institutes of 

13 Health on— 

14 (A) nutrition, dietary patterns, and the 

15 human gastrointestinal microbiome; and 

16 (B) how those factors influence the preven17 tion or development of chronic disease through18 out the lifespan; 

19 (6) supports access to malnutrition screening 

20 and assessment for all patients; 

21 (7) encourages the Centers for Medicare and 

22 Medicaid Services to facilitate the implementation of 

23 newly approved malnutrition electronic clinical qual24 ity measures for adults aged 18 and older; 


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1 (8) supports the ongoing work of the White 

2 House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health 

3 and its work to address malnutrition; and 

4 (9) acknowledges the importance of healthy 

5 food access for children, especially in childcare set6 tings and schools, and the benefits of evidence-based 

7 nutrition standards. 

Æ 


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