HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.63            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
    HEALTH TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO PROVIDE ALL HAWAII PUBLIC
    SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A NUTRITIOUS
    BREAKFAST.


 1        WHEREAS, in October, 1997, the Interagency Task Force on
 2   Food and Nutrition Assistance, created by House Concurrent
 3   Resolution No. 84, 1996, published its report; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, one finding is that many food and nutrition
 6   assistance programs are funded through the United States
 7   Department of Agriculture, including the Child Nutrition
 8   Program which, at the state level in Hawaii, offers six
 9   programs administered by the Department of Education including
10   the School Breakfast Program; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the Department of Education's school food
13   services program receives federal funding from the United
14   States Department of Agriculture's Food Consumer Services,
15   state funding as part of the Department's budget, and moneys
16   collected from public school students; and
17   
18        WHEREAS, the goals of all child nutrition programs are to:
19   
20        (1)  Provide maximum nutrition for optimal physical and
21             mental development; and
22   
23        (2)  Introduce children to good nutrition habits with the
24             goal that they will adopt such habits for life;
25   
26   and
27   
28        WHEREAS, there needs to be a recognition that nutritious
29   breakfasts for school children are not just meals but
30   preventive nutrition programs that help ensure that all
31   children, especially nutritionally vulnerable children, are
32   given the basic nutritional support to enable them to learn in
33   school; and
34   
35        WHEREAS, although the current program in Hawaii provides
36   nutritious breakfasts to public school children, it should be
37   the goal of the State to eventually provide such breakfasts for
38   all children, including pre-school aged children; and
39   

 
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 1        WHEREAS, because little research has been conducted on
 2   nutritional and food needs of Hawaii's population, there is
 3   heavy reliance on interpolating these needs from social,
 4   health, and welfare data generated by agencies such as the
 5   Departments of Human Services, Health, and Business, Economic
 6   Development, and Tourism; and
 7   
 8        WHEREAS, food and housing prices have always been inflated
 9   in Hawaii, and since 1980, the cost of living has risen sixty-
10   three per cent.  A 1988-1989 comparison study with twenty-five
11   other metropolitan areas in the nation ranked Honolulu as the
12   highest for all retail food prices; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, it is in the interest of the people of Hawaii to
15   ensure that all children in the State are provided the
16   opportunity to have a nutritious breakfast; now, therefore,
17   
18        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
19   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
20   of 1999, that the Department of Education and the Department of
21   Health are requested to develop a plan to provide all Hawaii
22   public school children with the opportunity to have a
23   nutritious breakfast; and
24   
25        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is requested to
26   consider the feasibility of incrementally phasing in pre-school
27   aged children in any program to provide nutritious breakfasts
28   to children in Hawaii; and
29   
30        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is further requested
31   to consider providing students in all schools in Hawaii, public
32   and private, the opportunity to have a nutritious breakfast by
33   examining concrete ways to collaborate with non-public schools
34   in the State; and
35   
36        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan is also requested to
37   consider extending the opportunity to all children in the
38   State, regardless of whether they attend schools or not, to
39   have a nutritious breakfast; and
40   
41        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
42   Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education,
43   the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Director of
44   Health.
45   
46   
47   
48                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________