Assembly Resolution No. 800

BY: M. of A. Joyner

        LEGISLATIVE      RESOLUTION  memorializing  Governor
        Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim March 2020, as Nutrition
        Month in the State of New York

  WHEREAS, Nutrition month was  created  to  focus  attention  on  the
importance  of making informed food choices and develop sound eating and
physical activity habits; and

  WHEREAS, The National Nutrition Month 2020 theme - Eat  Right,  Bite
by  Bite - is designed to be fun, positive, and kid friendly, as well as
inclusive of and adaptable for all eating patterns and cultures; and

  WHEREAS, Nearly one in five children are diagnosed as obese annually
at or before they reach two years of age according  to  the  Center  for
Disease Control and it is at that stage of life that a child is learning
the type of food and how much food to consume; and

  WHEREAS,  Childhood  obesity  is a national epidemic that has almost
tripled since the 1980s in the United States; and

  WHEREAS, Obesity accounts for approximately 374,239 deaths per  year
and  the annual cost to society for obesity is an estimated $327 billion
according to the American Diabetes Association; and

  WHEREAS, The New York University Child Study Center  has  determined
that if a parent is obese there is a fifty percent chance that the child
will  be  obese,  and if both parents are obese, then there is an eighty
percent chance that the child will be obese; and

  WHEREAS, Early intervention can  help  detect  the  magnitude  of  a
child's  obesity and minimize the occurrence of diseases such as Type II
Diabetes which increase the risk of heart  disease,  eye  complications,
and kidney conditions; and

  WHEREAS,  The  Academy  of  Nutrition and Dietetics strives to fight
childhood  obesity  by  providing  parents  with  information  regarding
healthier  lifestyles  for  their children, support to ensure that their
children are receiving the proper nutrients, ensuring that  schools  are
providing  students  with healthy foods, and helping children partake in
regular physical activity; and

  WHEREAS, The New  York  State  Department  of  Health  launched  the
Activ8kids  program  in 2005 to help fight childhood obesity and support
healthy lifestyles among children, in which  children  are  involved  in
daily  regimens  of  physical  exercise and healthy food choices to help
improve their health; and

  WHEREAS, The month of March is National Nutrition Month and consists
of a campaign that focuses on the importance  of  helping  children  and
teens  make  healthy  food  choices  and promote physical activity; now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize  Governor  Andrew  M.  Cuomo  to  proclaim  March  2020,  as
Nutrition Month in the State  of  New  York,  in  conjunction  with  the
observance of National Nutrition Month; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the  State  of
New York.