III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 826 

Supporting the designation of the week of September 16 through September 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 

Mr. MURPHY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

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; 

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


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•SRES 826 IS 

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 

Quality Malnutrition Care for Older Adults, 2020 Update’’, as many as half of older adults living in the 


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•SRES 826 IS 

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 Senate— 

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, social workers, 

7 advocates, caregivers, and other professionals and 

8 agencies for their efforts to advance awareness, 

9 treatment, and prevention of malnutrition; 

10 (3) recognizes the importance of existing Fed11 eral nutrition programs, like the nutrition programs 

12 established under the Older Americans Act of 1965 

13 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) and Federal child nutrition 

14 programs, for their role in combating malnutrition, 


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•SRES 826 IS 

1 and supports increased funding for these critical 

2 programs; 

3 (4) recognizes— 

4 (A) the importance of medical nutrition 

5 therapy under the Medicare Program under 

6 title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 

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

8 (B) the need for vulnerable populations to 

9 have access to nutrition counseling; 

10 (5) recognizes the importance of the innovative 

11 research conducted by the National Institutes of 

12 Health on— 

13 (A) nutrition, dietary patterns, and the 

14 human gastrointestinal microbiome; and 

15 (B) how those factors influence the preven16 tion or development of chronic disease through17 out the lifespan; 

18 (6) supports access to malnutrition screening 

19 and assessment for all patients; 

20 (7) encourages the Centers for Medicare & 

21 Medicaid Services to evaluate the implementation of 

22 newly approved malnutrition electronic clinical qual23 ity measures; 


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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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