Senate Resolution No. 490

BY: Senator RIVERA

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim March 2021, 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 2021 theme is "Personalize
Your Plate"; 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 2021, 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.