With the rapidly changing economic trends within the United States, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has ballooned recently. As of April 2, 2012, the total number of individuals participating in SNAP in the United States was 46,449,850. SNAP is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s largest food and nutrition assistance program and the cornerstone of the nation’s programs for reducing food insecurity and hunger.
It’s been in the news and at the forefront of public health policy debates—childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years and now represents one of the leading public health threats for our nation. (1) According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than one-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. (2) These numbers are alarming because obesity is associated with a number of significant health consequences, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, as well as psychosocial and emotional consequences.
The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education for low-income, pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional-risk. Based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, the foods available to participants in the WIC program underwent a significant overhaul in 2009 to better align nutrient intake among WIC participants with the latest dietary guidelines.
Obesity is a rapidly growing concern in the United States—no pun intended. In 2010, about one-third (33.8 percent) of adults in the U.S., and approximately 17 percent of children and adolescents were considered obese. The government estimates that 30 percent of the Medicare population is obese.
With the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, the United States Department of Agriculture will be revising the nutrition guidelines for the Child and Adult Care Food Program for the first time in decades. This represents an important time to align the program with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and to address the epidemic of childhood obesity that has developed over the past several decades. CACFP is a federal nutrition assistance program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA.
“It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give, and the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live.” -Amanda McBroom, The Rose
