The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“RECOGNIZING MALNUTRITION AWARENESS WEEK” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1302-E1303 on Sept. 25, 2018.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
RECOGNIZING MALNUTRITION AWARENESS WEEK
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HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO
of connecticut
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize this week as Malnutrition Awareness Week. Every 60 seconds, ten hospitalized patients with malnutrition go undiagnosed, and many of these patients are older adults.
Malnutrition Awareness Week is a multi-organization, multi-pronged campaign created by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition to educate healthcare professionals to identify and treat malnutrition earlier, educate consumers to discuss their nutrition status with their healthcare providers, and increase awareness of nutrition's role in patient recovery. There are common-sense solutions that can help close the malnutrition care gap.
We currently do not know the full extent of the malnutrition problem plaguing the senior population. Screening measures for malnutrition are not a part of our national health surveys, and malnutrition is not included in the national health indicators and goals for older Americans that help shape public health programs and guide healthcare professionals.
We cannot expect older adults and their families to take steps to address malnutrition if we don't give guidance on identification of and interventions for the problem as well. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture nutritional guidelines have never addressed the issue of older adult malnutrition. We also cannot advance malnutrition care and promote improved patient recovery if we don't align the identification of and interventions for malnutrition with healthcare quality incentive programs. Malnutrition can lead to greater risk of chronic disease, fragility, disability, and increased healthcare costs, yet nutrition status is rarely evaluated and managed as individuals transition across care settings.
Therefore, this Malnutrition Awareness week, I call upon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to routinely include malnutrition screening measures in national health surveys of older adults, and to include malnutrition among national key health indicators and Healthy People 2030 goals for older adults. I call upon HHS and the USDA to include dietary guidance for the prevention and treatment of older adult malnutrition and the closely-aligned problem of age-related sarcopenia (loss of strength and muscles) in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Finally, I call on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to include malnutrition electronic clinical quality measures in Medicare quality programs as well as include measures related to malnutrition in care transition programs.
I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives join me and rise in commemoration of Malnutrition Awareness Week. I wish to also salute the many groups and organizations who are involved on a daily basis in the fight against malnutrition, especially the bipartisan Defeat Malnutrition Today coalition and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
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