Nutrition Education Act

To amend section 9A of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require that local school wellness policies include a requirement that students receive 50 hours of school nutrition education per school year. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Nutrition Education Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Section 9A of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1758b 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq. 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq. (2) Some schools include in their health education classes some general information about nutrition, but there are no specific guidelines of what the minimum requirements should be. The mean number of hours spent on nutrition education in the first 4 years of school is only 13 hours per year. A minimum of 50 hours per year are thought to be necessary to influence behavior. (3) Each local educational agency participating in a program authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq. 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq. 3. School nutrition education requirement (a) Amendments Section 9A(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1758b(b) (1) in paragraph (1), by striking nutrition promotion and education, physical activity, physical activity (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (1), the following: (2) a requirement for 50 hours of school nutrition education during a school year for each student at a school under the jurisdiction of the local educational agency, which includes instruction that— (A) is consistent with sections 9 and 17 of this Act, and sections 4 and 10 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 (B) is offered at each grade level as part of a sequential, comprehensive, standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health; (C) is part of not only health education classes, but is also encouraged to be incorporated into classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, social sciences, and elective subjects; (D) includes enjoyable, developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant, participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, farm visits, and school gardens; (E) promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices; (F) emphasizes caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure; (G) coordinates with school meal programs, other school foods programs, and nutrition-related community services; (H) teaches media literacy with an emphasis on food marketing; (I) provides training for teachers and other staff in nutrition education; and (J) establishes a process to evaluate the effectiveness of the requirements of school nutrition education described in subparagraphs (A) through (I); . (b) Effective date The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect at the beginning of the school year following the date of the enactment of this Act, but not earlier than 3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Summary: Nutrition Education Act This bill requires a local educational agency that participates in a school lunch or breakfast program to require each student to receive 50 hours of nutrition education per school year. Such instruction must be consistent with applicable school meal program requirements as well as meet certain other standards with respect to content and delivery.