The Academy is encouraging members to support National Nutrition Month and School Breakfast Week (March 6-10). One in six U.S. children lives in a food insecure home. Pediatricians are instrumental in advocating for programs and policies to promote food security for their patients.
The Academy and the Food Resource and Action Center, a nonprofit group working to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, have developed Addressing Food Insecurity: A Toolkit for Pediatricians, http://www.frac.org/aaptoolkit.
The toolkit offers guidance on how to prepare to screen patients for food insecurity, including educating and training staff, scheduling regular screenings, adding screenings to workflow and addressing sensitivity.
School breakfasts are a good way to boost a child’s nutrition, health and educational achievement, and can improve food security, according to the toolkit. Having breakfast available at school is most successful when offered to all students.
Find the AAP policy on food security at http://bit.ly/2jTH6he and the AAP advocacy page at http://bit.ly/2kdGGOI.
