Child Nutrition Programs

Why Child Nutrition Programs Matter

Child Nutrition Programs provide an infrastructure that can be mobilized to improve children's diets and health on a national scale while also improving school attendance, test scores, and educational attainment.

There is evidence of social and economic benefits of the Child Nutrition Programs that extend into local communities. These include improvements in the diet of other family members, healthier options in the grocery store, economic stimulus to communities, stable consumers for American agriculture, job creation, and poverty reduction.

Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) is the process Congress uses to fund existing child nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Special Milk Program, Farm to School Grant Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

These child nutrition programs provide a critical system of nutrition support for millions of America's children when they are at school or other supervised childcare settings. Additionally, WIC supports eligible infants, very young children, and mothers during pregnancy.

In fiscal year 2024, the largest of the programs, NSLP and SBP, subsidized meals for nearly 30 million children with an average of 29.7 million average daily lunches served and 15.5 million average daily breakfasts served over 90,000 schools. CACFP provided services for 4.4 million children in 135,000 childcare centers and day care homes and 116,000 adults nationwide.

During the 2024-2025 school year, the Farm to School Grant Program supported 154 grants, serving more than 1.9 million students. WIC served about 6.9 million recipients per month in FY2025.

Without long-term investment in nutrition security with CNR, which improves food and nutrition security by ensuring access to consistent, adequate, and nutritious food and services, the benefits of these programs risk reversal and the success of their potential outcome become fragile.

Poor diet and childhood obesity are resulting in the early onset of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and hypertension; these are diseases that historically appeared later in life but now occur in childhood and adolescence.

Early onset of such diseases adds a strain to our health system as children carry these conditions into adulthood. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that obesity accounted for nearly $173 billion in U.S. medical expenditures in 2019 dollars, up from the agency's earlier estimate of $147 billion annually in 2008 dollars.

Legislation

Ideally, the U.S. Congress would reauthorize existing child nutrition programs every five years. However, last reauthorization, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, was passed in 2010. Although this law expired on September 30, 2015, the programs continue to operate. Many of these programs are permanently authorized and funded, meaning they do not have set expiration dates.

The majority of programs have been operating since the law expired with funding through appropriations. However, because there has not been another reauthorization since 2010, these programs are unable to evolve with current economic and public health circumstances and are forced to operate the same way they did in 2010.

This includes barriers to adjusting to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Programs may be further constrained when required to adjust to the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

The Academy's Stance on Child Nutrition Programs

The Academy supports strong, federally funded child nutrition programs because they help ensure that children and adolescents have access to safe, healthy foods that support physical, cognitive, and social development. The Academy maintains that nutrition assistance, school meal, and nutrition education programs are critical for reducing hunger and food insecurity, improving health outcomes, and promoting academic success.

Read Academy's detailed recommendations for strengthening these programs.

In addition, as a member of the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, the Academy supports NANA's Child Nutrition Priorities.

Get Involved

Receive policy and advocacy status updates and connect with fellow Academy members focused on nutrition security by joining the Nutrition Security Affinity Group, the School Nutrition Services Dietetic Practice Group, and the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group.

Use the resources below to learn more about Child Nutrition Programs and advocate for the Academy’s priorities with your policymakers.

Advocacy Resources

• Healthy School Meals for All One-pager
• Healthy School Meals for All Video
• NANA Letter to USDA Regarding Child Nutrition Program Guidelines