DeLauro Statement on Proposed School Wellness Standards

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today as First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced proposed guidelines for local school wellness standards as the Administration implements key provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. DeLauro has long been an advocate of policy that seeks to improve public health and wellness among our youngest citizens by cutting out junk food advertisement. She is a former chairwoman of the subcommittee responsible for funding the USDA.

“The epidemic of childhood obesity harms both the health and quality of life for today’s kids. The First Lady and Secretary Vilsack are doing the right thing by trying to turn the tide on the childhood obesity epidemic. These school wellness standards will help promote clear policies that cut out the junk both in advertisements at school, and our children’s diets. For too long, our policy toward junk food marketing targeted to children has been out of sync with the research that shows children’s nutritional choices are heavily influenced by their environment.

“Although these new guidelines represent an important step, it is only a first step. We must continue to set policies that make it easier for children and families to make healthy choices. This is why I have introduced legislation that would prevent businesses from receiving tax deductions for the marketing of unhealthy food to children. It’s time to align our policies with our public health goals and stop supplementing the promotion of unhealthy food to kids.”

DeLauro’s legislation would end the subsidy companies can currently claim for marketing unhealthy food products to children. The bill would not affect a company’s ability to market any food product it chooses to any audience, but it would stop the current practice of taxpayers subsidizing some of those marketing practices. Those guidelines are based on the latest science and nutritional data, and are updated regularly to reflect that data.