[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1462 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1462
Supporting the designation of the week of September 16 through
September 20, 2024, as ``Malnutrition Awareness Week''.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2024
Ms. Bonamici (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Lawler, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Carson, and Ms. Tokuda) submitted
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Ways
and Means, and Education and the Workforce, 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
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting the designation of the week of September 16 through
September 20, 2024, 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 American Indian and Alaska Native households are at significantly
greater risk for food insecurity than all households in the United
States;
Whereas 1 in 18 Asian Americans and 1 in 5 Pacific Islanders experience food
insecurity;
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 deaths from malnutrition have increased among adults 85 and older since
2013;
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, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the designation of ``Malnutrition Awareness
Week'';
(2) recognizes registered dietitian nutritionists and other
nutrition professionals, health care providers, school food
service workers, those who provide home-delivered meals, 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 the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001
et seq.) nutrition programs and 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
adequate 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 and Medicaid
Services to facilitate the implementation of newly approved
malnutrition electronic clinical quality measures for adults
aged 18 and older;
(8) supports the ongoing work of the White House Conference
on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and its work to address
malnutrition; and
(9) 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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