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Klobuchar Pushes for Healthy School Meals for Minnesota's Children

Klobuchar and First Lady Michelle Obama urge School Nutrition Association to Combat Childhood Obesity

March 2, 2010

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, delivered the keynote address to hundreds of school nutrition professionals from across the nation at the School Nutrition Association's (SNA) 38th annual Legislative Action Conference.

First Lady Michelle Obama also addressed the conference and discussed school nutrition issues and her recently launched Let’s Move! campaign to aggressively fight childhood obesity.

"Our children are the future and we all have a stake in making sure they grow up happy and healthy," said Klobuchar. "Ensuring that kids have access to healthy school meals is important not only for the well-being of our kids, but for the well-being of our country. We need a strong, healthy workforce in the future to keep our economy competitive."

In her remarks, Klobuchar highlighted the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one out of every three children in the U.S. between the age of two and 19 is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

Klobuchar has actively worked to improve the health of America’s children. She sponsored the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act, which grants the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to regulate the sale of all foods and beverages on school grounds and requires national nutrition standards for these foods. Additionally, as Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee’s Subcommittee on Children’s Health, Senator Klobuchar has held hearings to examine the issue of childhood obesity.

The SNA’s annual Legislative Action Conference runs from February 28 to March 3. The SNA represents 55,000 school nutrition professionals, and has committed to multiple initiatives to further improve the nutritional quality of school meals and advance nutrition education for America’s students.

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