In December, The Society for Nutrition Education spearheaded a coalition of vari­ous nutrition organizations that addressed the issue of nutrition services in health care reform. Peg McConnell, who served as the SNE representative, was the task force chairperson. Ten organizations supported the final one-page position statement that was sent to Hillary Rodham Clinton on March 24, 1993.

Your support of the Position Statement is crucial as SNE lobbies Congress on the importance of nutrition services in health care reform, focusing on prevention and maternal and child health. Maintaining funding for nutrition intervention and

FROM SNE

Public Policy Update

education programs that promote health and prevent disease will also be included in SNE's lobbying efforts. It is important that you:

• Send this Position Statement to your Congressional delegates and elected State Officials, along with any informa­tion you have on the importance of nutrition services in health care reform. With the focus on spending cuts, pro­vide your Senators and Representatives with information on cost effective pro­grams, i.e., nutrition programs funded with state MCH and preventive block grants, Spranz grants, CDC grants, etc.

• Share this Position Statement with other organizations in your community.

• Provide Darlene Lansing with any background information on the cost benefits of the nutrition programs you direct.

Nancy Chapman, M.P.H., R.D. Director if Public Policy, SNE

1723 U Street, N. W. Washington, DC 20009

(202) 659-1858 FAX (202) 387-5553

Margaret McConnell, M.S., R .D . Chairperson, Health Care Riform

Task Force

The Coalition for Nutrition Services in Health Care Refonn - Position Statement

Preventative, therapeutic and rehabil­itative nutrition services comprise an es­sential, though often unappreciated component of health care. Appropriate nutrition is important to all stages of the life cycle from prenatal care and infancy to long-term care of the elderly, from developing healthy eating practices and cholesterol screening to high-tech inter­ventions requiring specialized nutrition support services.

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association, American Public Health Association, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, As­sociation of the Faculties of Graduate Programs in Public Health Nutrition, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Di­rectors, Center for Science in the Public Interest, National Association of WIC Directors, The Oley Foundation, and The Society for Nutrition Education that:

• Quality health and nutrition services must be available, accessible and af­fordable to all Americans.

• Quality nutrition services are es­sential to meeting the preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative health

care needs of all segments of the population.

• Any basic benefits plan must include the following nutrition services: screening, assessment, counseling, and treatment for individuals receiv­ing primary care, acute care, outpa­tient services, home care, and long­term care.

• Quality nutrition services must be reimbursable and provided by quali­fied professionals.

• Nutrition intervention and educa­tion programs that promote health and prevent disease are fundamental to health care reform and must be funded.

• Nutrition services should be coordi­nated with supplemental food pro­grams and other food assistance programs and be delivered in a vari­ety of settings that are both traditional and innovative.

"If you are among the two out of three Americans who do not smoke or drink excessively, your choice of diet can influence your long-term health prospects more than any other action you might take. " (The Surgeon Gen­eral's Report on Nutrition and Health, 1988.) Nutrition programs that promote health and prevent disease must foster

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personal and community responsibility for healthy behaviors and lifestyles and be delivered in primary care, public health and community settings . To maximize the benefit, these nutrition programs must meet the needs of the vulnerable and frequently underserved segments of our population, assure access to a nutritious diet, be culturally appro­priate, and be included in preventative care, maternal and child health care, and in health care services for older Americans.

Nutrition services which prevent or ameliorate malnutrition can avert chronic illness or the need for expensive hospital care. For persons suffering from serious illness, specialized nutrition sup­port services such as enteral (tube) and parenteral (intravenous) feeding can save lives, as well as promote healing and reduce the length of hospitalization.

A quality health care system must be available, accessible and affordable; con­tain mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the public's health; assure that providers of nutrition care programs and services are qualified and have advanced training or education in nutrition; use clinical and applied research to improve health care practice; and maintain a com­prehensive federal, state, and local public health infrastructure to protect the com­munity's health.