II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1829

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard B. Russell 

National School Lunch Act to improve the nutrition and health of children in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2003

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the Richard 

B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the 

nutrition and health of children in the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Better Eating for Better Living Act of 2003’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 
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TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO RICHARD B. RUSSELL NATIONAL 

SCHOOL LUNCH ACT 

Sec. 101. Reimbursement for school lunches. 

Sec. 102. Nutritional quality of school meals. 

TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966

Sec. 201. Funding for nutrition education. 

TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 301. Effective date.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes 

are responsible for 2 4 ⁄3 of deaths in the United 

5 States; 

6 (2) the major risk factors for those diseases 

7 and conditions are established in childhood through 

8 unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity, obesity, 

9 and tobacco use; 

10 (3) obesity rates have doubled in children and 

11 tripled in adolescents over the last 2 decades; 

12 (4) today, 1 in 7 young people are obese, and 

13 1 in 3 are overweight; 

14 (5) obese children are twice as likely as 

15 nonobese children to become obese adults; 

16 (6) overweightness and obesity can result in 

17 physical, psychological, and social consequences, in18 cluding heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, 

19 decreased self-esteem, and discrimination; 
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1 (7) only 2 percent of children consume a diet 

2 that meets the 5 main recommendations for a 

3 healthy diet from the Food Guide Pyramid published 

4 by the Secretary of Agriculture; 

5 (8) 3 out of 4 high school students in the 

6 United States do not eat the recommended 5 or 

7 more servings of fruits and vegetables each day; and 

8 (9) 3 out of 4 children in the United States 

9 consume more saturated fat than is recommended in 

10 the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO 

13 RICHARD B. RUSSELL NA14 TIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH ACT 

15 SEC. 101. REIMBURSEMENT FOR SCHOOL LUNCHES. 

16 Section 4(b)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National 

17 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1753(b)(2)) is amended by 

18 striking ‘‘10.5’’ and inserting ‘‘31’’. 

19 SEC. 102. NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF SCHOOL MEALS. 

20 (a) REVISION OF MEAL GUIDELINES.—Section 

21 9(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) REVISION OF NUTRITIONAL GUIDE25 LINES.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

2 collaboration with experts in nutrition, 

3 school health, food service, and school ad4 ministration, shall, not later than July 31, 

5 2004, and every 5 years thereafter—

6 ‘‘(I) review the nutritional guide7 lines applicable to meals served under 

8 the school lunch program under this 

9 Act, taking into consideration—

10 ‘‘(aa) advances in the field 

11 of nutrition; 

12 ‘‘(bb) identified public 

13 health risks relating to inad14 equate nutrition and over15 consumption; and 

16 ‘‘(cc) the needs of student 

17 populations covered by programs 

18 under this Act; and 

19 ‘‘(II) issue revised nutritional 

20 guidelines, as necessary, including 

21 guidelines with respect to—

22 ‘‘(aa) the content of meals 

23 served of calories, fat (including 

24 types of fat), added sugars, fiber, 

25 sodium, vitamins, and minerals; 
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1 ‘‘(bb) the variety of foods of2 fered; 

3 ‘‘(cc) the availability of 

4 fruits and vegetables; and 

5 ‘‘(dd) the cultural appro6 priateness of foods offered. 

7 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABILITY.—Revised nutri8 tional guidelines issued by the Secretary 

9 under clause (i) shall apply to meals served 

10 under the school lunch program under this 

11 Act on and after the date that is 2 years 

12 after the date of issuance of the revised 

13 nutritional guidelines.’’. 

14 (b) FLUID MILK.—Section 9(a)(2) of the Richard B. 

15 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 1758(a)(2)) is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) at a minimum, shall offer students 

19 a choice of lowfat or nonfat fluid milk; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) in addition to the type of fluid milk 

21 offered under clause (i), may offer such other 

22 varieties of fluid milk as are—

23 ‘‘(I) consistent with expressed pref24 erences of the student population; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) reasonably equivalent in calcium, 

2 protein, vitamin A, and vitamin K content 

3 and cost.’’. 

4 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO 

5 CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966

6 SEC. 201. FUNDING FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION. 

7 Section 19(i) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

8 U.S.C. 1788 (i)) is amended—

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

10 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO12 PRIATIONS.—’’ and all that follows through para13 graph (1) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—

15 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS.—Out of any funds in the 

16 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary of 

18 Agriculture to carry out this section, to remain 

19 available until expended—

20 ‘‘(A) on October 1, 2003, $10,000,000; 

21 ‘‘(B) on October 1, 2004, $15,000,000; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(C) on October 1, 2005, $20,000,000. 

24 ‘‘(2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Sec25 retary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 
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1 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans2 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro3 priation. 

4 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (B), grants to each State from the 

7 amounts made available under paragraph (1) 

shall be based on a rate of 1 8 ⁄2 cent per average 

9 daily number of meals served, to be allocated 

10 among State, district, and school food service 

11 and health education authorities, as determined 

12 by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The minimum 

14 amount of a grant provided to a State for a fis15 cal year under this section shall be $200,000, 

16 as adjusted in accordance with section 

17 11(a)(3)(B) of the Richard B. Russell National 

18 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 1759a(a)(3)(B)).’’. 

20 TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATE 

21 SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 

23 effect on October 1, 2003.

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