Washington, DC
September 28, 2007
Dr. Mariana Chilton, Principal Investigator of the Philadelphia GROW Project was invited to speak at the Annual Legislative Conference of the Black Caucus Foundation by Pennsylvania State Congressman Chaka Fattah. The Congressional Black Conference is comprised of members of the United States House and Senate. The conference focused on several areas of children's health including the link between hunger and poverty.
In her talk, Dr. Chilton remarked:
"In Philadelphia alone there are approximately 7600 infants and toddlers at risk for hunger. The national rates of food insecurity for African American children and Latino children are almost three times higher than the rates for white children. If a child does not have proper nutrition in this critical period, long before they cross the threshold of a school, their ability to pay attention and learn may be permanently altered."
Further, she argued that hunger cannot be examined without considering the ill consequences of poverty and its impact on child development, especially for African-American and Latino children. She urged Black Caucus members to establish a cross-agency approach that involves representatives from Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Nutrition, and Housing Committees to provide critical national oversight on all nutrition related issues. She indicated that national leadership and oversight on nutrition and nutrition-related issues should be reestablished through legislative action. This will ensure government accountability to eradicate food insecurity and promote child-wellbeing in the United States. A good place to start would be to revisit the US Action Plan on Food Security.
For information on the Black Caucus
http://www.congressionalblackcaucus.net/
Posted by Michelle Renee Chyatte, MPH, Policy Coordinator
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