Title: Supporting the designation of the week of September 19 through September 23, 2022, as "Malnutrition Awareness Week".
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This concurrent resolution supports the designation of Malnutrition Awareness Week.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 106 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 106

    Supporting the designation of the week of September 19 through 
        September 23, 2022, as ``Malnutrition Awareness Week''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2022

 Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mr. Katko, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
 Carbajal, Mr. Costa, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, 
  Mr. Soto, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. 
 Deutch, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, Mr. Correa, Mrs. Hayes, and Ms. Meng) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
    and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, 
      Education and Labor, and Ways and Means, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Supporting the designation of the week of September 19 through 
        September 23, 2022, 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;
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 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, according to the ``National Blueprint: Achieving Quality Malnutrition 
        Care for Older Adults, 2020 Update'', 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
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) supports the designation of ``Malnutrition Awareness 
        Week'';
            (2) recognizes registered dietitian nutritionists and other 
        nutrition professionals, health care providers, school food 
        service workers, social workers, advocates, caregivers, and 
        other professionals and agencies for their efforts to advance 
        awareness, treatment, and prevention of malnutrition;
            (3) recognizes the importance of existing Federal nutrition 
        programs, like Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et 
        seq.) nutrition programs and the Federal child nutrition 
        programs, for their role in combating malnutrition, and 
        supports increased funding for these critical programs;
            (4) recognizes--
                    (A) the importance of medical nutrition therapy 
                under the Medicare Program under title XVIII of the 
                Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.); and
                    (B) the need for vulnerable populations to have 
                access to nutrition counseling;
            (5) recognizes the importance of the innovative research 
        conducted by the National Institutes of Health on--
                    (A) nutrition, dietary patterns, and the human 
                gastrointestinal microbiome; and
                    (B) how those factors influence the prevention or 
                development of chronic disease throughout the lifespan;
            (6) supports access to malnutrition screening and 
        assessment for all patients;
            (7) encourages the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 
        to evaluate the implementation of newly approved malnutrition 
        electronic clinical quality measures; and
            (8) acknowledges the importance of healthy food access for 
        children, especially in childcare settings and schools, and the 
        benefits of evidence-based nutrition standards.
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