II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2183

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to create team nutrition networks 

to promote the nutritional health of school children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2004

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, and Mr. DODD) 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 to create team 

nutrition networks to promote the nutritional health of 

school children.

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Early Attention To 

5 Nutrition (EATN) Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes 

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

3 States; 

4 (2) the major risk factors for those diseases 

5 and conditions are established in childhood through 

6 unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity, obesity, 

7 and tobacco use; 

8 (3) obesity rates have doubled in children and 

9 tripled in adolescents over the last 2 decades; 

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

11 1 in 3 are overweight; 

12 (5) obese children are twice as likely as 

13 nonobese children to become obese adults; 

14 (6) an overweight condition and obesity can re15 sult in physical, psychological, and social con16 sequences, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, 

17 depression, decreased self-esteem, and discrimina18 tion; 

19 (7) only 2 percent of children consume a diet 

20 that meets the 5 main recommendations for a 

21 healthy diet from the Food Guide Pyramid published 

22 by the Secretary of Agriculture; 

23 (8) 3 out of 4 high school students in the 

24 United States do not eat the recommended 5 or 

25 more servings of fruits and vegetables each day; and 
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1 (9) 3 out of 4 children in the United States 

2 consume more saturated fat than is recommended in 

3 the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by 

4 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 SEC. 3. TEAM NUTRITION NETWORK GRANTS. 

6 Section 19 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1788) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 19. TEAM NUTRITION NETWORK GRANTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

10 ‘‘(1) to promote the nutritional health of school 

11 children through nutrition education and other ac12 tivities that support healthy lifestyles for children; 

13 ‘‘(2) to provide grants to States for the develop14 ment of statewide, comprehensive, and integrated 

15 nutrition education programs; and 

16 ‘‘(3) to provide training and technical assist17 ance to States, school and community nutrition pro18 grams, and child nutrition food service professionals. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF TEAM NUTRITION NETWORK.—

20 In this section, the term ‘team nutrition network’ means 

21 a multidisciplinary program to promote healthy eating to 

22 children based on scientifically valid information and 

23 sound educational, social, and marketing principles. 

24 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—The Secretary is authorized to make 

25 grants to State educational agencies to promote the nutri-
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1 tional health of school children through the establishment 

2 of team nutrition networks. 

3 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

5 and subsections (g) and (h), the Secretary shall allo6 cate funds made available for a fiscal year under 

7 subsection (i) to make grants to eligible State edu8 cational agencies for a fiscal year in an amount de9 termined by the Secretary, based on the ratio that— 

10 ‘‘(A) the number of lunches reimbursed 

11 through food service programs under the Rich12 ard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) in schools, institutions, 

14 and service institutions in the State that par15 ticipate in the food service programs; bears to 

16 ‘‘(B) the number of lunches reimbursed 

17 through the food service programs in schools, 

18 institutions, and service institutions in all 

19 States that participate in the food service pro20 grams. 

21 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM GRANT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a 

23 grant made to a State educational agency for a 

24 fiscal year under this section shall not be less 

25 than $500,000. 
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1 ‘‘(B) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If the 

2 amount made available for any fiscal year is in3 sufficient to pay the amount to which each eli4 gible State educational agency is entitled under 

5 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall select, on 

6 a competitive basis, eligible State educational 

7 agencies that will receive, at least, the minimum 

8 amount of grants required under subparagraph 

9 (A). 

10 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

11 under this section, a State educational agency shall submit 

12 a State plan to the Secretary for approval, in such manner 

13 and at such time as the Secretary determines, that in14 cludes information regarding how the grant will be used 

15 in accordance with this section. 

16 ‘‘(f) USES OF GRANT.—Subject to subsection (g), a 

17 grant made under this section may be used to— 

18 ‘‘(1) instruct students with regard to the nutri19 tional value of foods and the relationship between 

20 food and human health; 

21 ‘‘(2) promote healthy eating by children; 

22 ‘‘(3) provide assistance to schools in the adop23 tion and implementation of school policies that pro24 mote healthy eating; 
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1 ‘‘(4) foster community environments that sup2 port healthy eating and physical activities; 

3 ‘‘(5) provide training and technical assistance 

4 to teachers and school food service professionals con5 sistent with this section; 

6 ‘‘(6) evaluate State and local nutrition edu7 cation programs; 

8 ‘‘(7) disseminate educational materials state9 wide through the use of the Internet, mailings, con10 ferences, and other communication channels; 

11 ‘‘(8) provide subgrants to school and school 

12 food authorities for carrying out nutrition education 

13 activities at the local level; and 

14 ‘‘(9) conduct programs and education for par15 ents and caregivers regarding healthy eating for chil16 dren. 

17 ‘‘(g) STATE COORDINATORS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

19 that at least 10 percent of a grant made to a State 

20 educational agency for each fiscal year is used by 

21 the State educational agency to appoint a team nu22 trition network coordinator for the State. 

23 ‘‘(2) ROLE OF STATE COORDINATORS.—A team 

24 nutrition network coordinator for a State shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) develop and administer the team nu2 trition network in the State; and 

3 ‘‘(B) coordinate the team nutrition net4 work of the State with— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Secretary (acting through the 

6 Food and Nutrition Service); 

7 ‘‘(ii) State agencies responsible for 

8 children’s health programs (including 

9 school-based children’s health programs); 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(iii) other appropriate Federal, 

12 State, and local agencies. 

13 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reserve 

15 20 percent of the amount of funds made available 

16 for each fiscal year under subsection (i) to promote 

17 team nutrition networks nationally in accordance 

18 with this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—Of the amount of funds that 

20 are reserved for a fiscal year under this section, the 

21 Secretary shall use— 

22 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of the reserved funds 

23 for— 

24 ‘‘(i) evaluation of activities funded 

25 under this section; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) development of a clearinghouse 

2 for collecting and disseminating informa3 tion on best practices for promoting 

4 healthy eating in school and community 

5 child nutrition programs; and 

6 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the reserved funds to 

7 carry out national activities to support team 

8 nutrition networks through the Secretary, act9 ing through the Undersecretary of Food and 

10 Nutrition Services. 

11 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1, 2004, and 

13 on each October 1 thereafter through October 1, 

14 2007, out of any funds in the Treasury not other15 wise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury 

16 shall transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture to 

17 carry out this section $50,000,000, to remain avail18 able until expended. 

19 ‘‘(2) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The Sec20 retary shall be entitled to receive, shall accept, and 

21 shall use to carry out this section the funds trans22 ferred under paragraph (1), without further appro23 priation.’’.

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