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the whole serving.
• Research by USDA's Economic Research Service has also found that these healthy foods are often no more expensive than less-nutritious foods. Still, there are millions of American families who lack access to healthy foods due to economic or geographical barriers.
• USDA recently announced a measure that will improve nutrition education for low-income families, ultimately helping them to access more nutritious foods.
• The new policy aims to give more flexibility for states to provide targeted education to recipients of the SNAP program, with a special goal of increasing healthy eating habits and reducing obesity. The new measure will help expand farmers markets and community gardens that help expand access to healthy foods. It will provide assistance for parents to access nutrition information. And it will help retailers provide healthier foods to participants in SNAP.
• These efforts to increase availability, affordability and information regarding healthy foods are more important than ever today. One-third of kids today are overweight or obese, putting them at risk for preventable illness in the decades to come. Along with malnutrition, this threatens our nation's security and economic well-being in the decades to come.
• By improving access to healthy foods for our young people and their families, we can help create generational change to reduce childhood obesity and child malnutrition. Together, we can give today's young people the tools they need to grow up healthy, strong and ready to succeed.