Crapo: Idaho To Receive School Nutrition Grant

Washington, DC â?? Idaho Senator Mike Crapo announced today that Idaho will receive $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund school programs promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The Idaho Department of Education will receive a Team Nutrition (TN) Training Grant as part of President Bushâ??s HealthierUS School initiative. The initiative seeks to develop and implement behavior-focused nutrition education and provide assistance to child nutrition professionals, including training on preparing nutritious meals. Idaho was one of twenty-one states selected for the competitive grant. â??Nutrition is incredibly important to child development and success in the classroom,â?? Crapo said. â??Efforts in the area of child nutrition pay dividends in increased concentration, energy and overall success in school. Physical activity is no less important and is a critical aspect of maintaining health. Clearly there is a need for good information and training on healthy living. Recent statistics indicate that there are nine million children in the U.S. who are overweight or obese. Providing children with good information gives them an opportunity to make healthy, informed food and exercise choices.â?? The TN Training Grants are designed to assist State agencies in improving children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits using the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Food Guide Pyramid. TN provides schools with nutrition education materials for children and families; technical assistance materials for school food service directors, managers and staff; and materials to build school and community support for healthy eating and physical activity. State agencies provide training and technical assistance to support these programs in local schools.More information on the TN Training Grant program can be found at http://www.fns.usda.gov/TN/Grants/index.htm. For more information on President Bushâ??s HealthierUS initiative, go to www.healthierus.gov. # # #