White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health September 2022

White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health 2022

The White House Conference.

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health will take place on September 28, 2022, under the Biden-Harris Administration. This conference is a chance to bring together stakeholders from across the country to collaborate on solutions and share best practices.

The goal of this event is to showcase how we can work together as a nation toward solving some of our most challenging public health issues.

White House Conference Aims

• Increase affordability and accessibility of food.

• Nutrition and health should be combined.

• Give everyone the means to choose healthful options and to have access to them.

• Support physical activity for all ages, races, and ethnicities.

• Improve research on nutrition and food security that is focused on underserved communities at the local level.

1. Increase affordability and accessibility of food

Food access is a problem in the United States, and it's one that affects low-income people around the world. Food insecurity has many negative consequences for individuals and communities: poor nutrition can lead to high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and other health issues; children who aren't growing up healthy may have difficulty attending school or getting jobs later on, families with limited access to food often rely on government assistance programs like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) or WIC (Women Infants Children).

Food insecurity also affects people with disabilities and not just those who have physical impairments such as hearing loss or mobility issues. People living with mental health disorders face challenges accessing nutritious foods because they're more likely than others to live alone without family members nearby who can help them shop at farmers' markets or grocery stores where fresh produce isn't always available year-round.

2. Nutrition and health should be combined

The integration of nutrition and health is an important element in the food security agenda. The goal of this conference is to provide a platform for countries to share experiences, lessons learned, and data on integrated nutrition and health systems that can be used by other countries to strengthen their own efforts.

The United States will support this effort through funding from USAID's Nutrition Innovation Program (NIP), which seeks to boost innovation around food security at all levels from farmers growing nutritious crops on marginal land or smallholder farms that are often poor or disadvantaged through processors who make sure that everyone has access to affordable foods  through retailers who make sure they sell those foods quickly so they can be eaten on time; through public health professionals who use proven strategies such as school meals programs when it comes time for children's school lunches through policy makers who develop regulations governing how we grow our food system so it works well together with our environment.

3. Give everyone the means to choose healthful options and to have access to them.

We believe that everyone should have access to healthy choices. We want people to be able to make and have access to healthy foods, even if they don’t have enough money or time.

We also want everyone who wants a healthier diet, but doesn't know where or how to get it or who just doesn't want the hassle of shopping around to be able to do so.

4. Support physical activity for all ages, races, and ethnicities.

The physical activity recommendations are:

• For children, adolescents and young adults: At least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity on most days. (Moderate is 30 to 60 minutes.)

• For older adults and people with chronic diseases who are at risk of falls: At least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five times per week or at least 75 minutes on most days.

• For all Americans, especially those who are overweight or obese: At least 60 minutes per day of moderate intensity aerobic activity or an equivalent combination of resistance training and balance exercises that works all major muscle groups every other day (i.e., 2 days/week).

5. Improve research on nutrition and food security

The conference will also discuss ways to enhance nutrition and food security research. This includes:

• Improving the quality of studies on hunger, nutrition, and health.

• Enhancing our understanding of how best to strengthen public health systems around the world.

• Increasing access for beneficiaries to healthcare services through improved delivery mechanisms and an increase in funding for health interventions such as vaccines or treatment options for diseases like malaria or tuberculosis (TB).

Coordinate Strategies

Convene diverse stakeholders to catalyze the public and private sectors around a coordinated strategy to accelerate progress and drive transformative change in the U.S. to bridge the gaps around them, end hunger, and enhance nutrition and physical activity.

• Provide opportunities for all Americans, especially those who have been historically underserved by our systems of food assistance or lack access to healthy foods (e.g., low-income communities), are pregnant women or children under 5 years old at increased risk for obesity based on their age group.

• Encourage partnerships between public health agencies such as CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) with other federal departments/agencies that have jurisdiction over nutrition including USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

Elevate The Experiences

The conference will provide a platform that elevates the lived experiences of people most impacted by hunger and poor nutrition through their participation in panels, workshops and breakout sessions.

The conference will include the voices of people who are most affected by hunger and poor nutrition.

Ensure ongoing engagement beyond the conference through the creation of an ongoing Hunger & Nutrition Working Group that will uplift the priorities of communities most impacted by hunger, poor nutrition, and health disparities.

The working group will be a coalition of stakeholders that will make recommendations on how to best implement the strategies and priorities identified at the conference. It will include individuals who are most impacted by hunger, poor nutrition, and health disparities.

The working group will convene in 2022 to provide input into national efforts to end hunger, improve nutrition and health outcomes for all children age 6-17 years old by 2030.

Elevate evidence-based solutions (i.e., interventions with proven impacts) for eradicating hunger in the United States; improving access to healthful food; increasing consumption of healthy foods; improving health outcomes for all people through better nutrition; raising awareness about health disparities due to social determinants of health such as food insecurity; and advancing nutrition, physical activity, and prevention research.

We can solve a problem if we work together

In the United States, there are a lot of people. We need to work together to solve the problems we face and make progress towards our goals. We can do this by being open to new ideas, willing to try new things and willing to learn from each other.

The conference is a unique opportunity to gather stakeholders, policymakers and other stakeholders in government, non-profit organizations, faith communities and business to identify solutions that can solve the problems of hunger in America. This conference will also highlight current research findings on how we can address these issues while also reducing our personal carbon footprint by reducing food waste at home.