Milford | August 30, 2010 - Representative Michael Castle (R-Del), along with representatives of Nemours and the Delaware Department of Education, paid a visit to The Learning Center, TLC, Inc., today to underscore the importance of bipartisan support for Child Nutrition Reauthorization. House passage of a fully offset Child Nutrition bill would go a long way towards overhauling our nation’s child nutrition programs – cutting calories and fat, increasing fruits and vegetables, and serving appropriate portion sizes. For some children, federal nutrition programs are providing half of the food they consume.  

Rep. Castle said, “The Learning Center provides outstanding care for children in the Milford community. It is evident that the staff has embraced Delaware’s exemplary nutrition guidelines for child care. At the federal level, we cannot afford to miss this opportunity to help all licensed child care providers by making an investment now in the health and future of our kids.”

Rep. Castle has long been a staunch supporter of child nutrition programs. Reauthorization of Child Nutrition will help strengthen federal nutrition programs that contribute to children’s overall health and development. It will also help in reducing hunger and childhood obesity by ensuring that children eat healthy and nutritious foods while they are in school and child care.

Earlier this month, the Senate passed its version of reauthorization. The reauthorization has also passed the House Education and Labor Committee, and is currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“In order to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation, the goal of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, it is critical to start with our youngest children, including the 12 million American kids who spend time in child care,” said David Bowman, Delaware Department of Education.  “Just as the school lunch program can promote health and reduce hunger in school-aged children, the program for meals in child care – the Child and Adult Care Food Program – can promote healthy habits in our youngest kids.”

Representatives of the Nemours children’s health system were also on hand to support House passage of a Child Nutrition bill. Nemours has been a national leader in obesity prevention and in improving nutrition in early care and education. For the past year, Nemours’ Healthy Kids Healthy Future initiative has advanced dialogue and collaboration among federal and state program leaders and advocates in the fields of child health promotion, obesity prevention and early education.  In Delaware, Nemours, the Department of Education and other community partners have been working together to put in place model standards in child care that promote healthy eating and physical activity.  Lessons learned from these innovative efforts were instrumental in contributing to national action.  

Dr. Sandra Hassink, a pediatrician and Director of the Nemours Obesity Initiative, urged, “As a pediatrician who specializes in treating obesity, I have a special plea for Congress:  Please put me out of a job.  I would like nothing more than to have an empty clinic and healthy children everywhere.  Reauthorizing the child nutrition programs is a critical step toward guaranteeing all of our children a healthy future.”


About Nemours
Nemours is an integrated children’s health system with operations in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. The organization’s hub in Delaware is the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, a 200-bed full service pediatric medical center in Wilmington, DE. The Hospital is the academic partner of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. Nemours operates 14 outpatient specialty sites in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and eight primary care sites in Delaware. In Florida, the Nemours Children’s Hospital is under construction near Orlando and expected to open in 2012. Nemours offers outpatient pediatric specialty care at seven locations, including Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola.

Nemours provides health education through KidsHealth, the world’s most visited web site dedicated to the health of children; health promotion and obesity prevention programs through Nemours Health and Prevention Services, and adjunct programs in detection and intervention such as the Nemours BrightStart! dyslexia initiative. The Office of Child Health Policy and Advocacy in Washington, DC, allows Nemours to advocate for improved health outcomes for all children, not just the patients it serves.