BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2084
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall, Jr., Chair
AB 2084 (Brownley) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
SUBJECT : Child day care facilities: nutrition
SUMMARY : Creates minimum standards for beverages that are
served in licensed child day care facilities. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires licensed child day care facilities to:
a) Serve only one percent milk to children ages two or
older;
b) Limit juice to not more than one serving per day of 100%
juice;
c) Serve no beverages with added sweeteners, either natural
or artificial; and
d) Make clean and safe dinking water readily available and
accessible for consumption throughout the day, particularly
with meals and snacks.
2)Makes findings and declarations regarding what research has
shown about the connection between unhealthy food preferences
and childhood obesity.
EXISTING LAW
1)Defines a child day care facility as a facility that provides
non-medical, supervisory care to children under 18 years of
age. These facilities include: day care centers,
employer-sponsored child care centers, and family day care
homes.
2)States, under the California Child Day Care Facilities Act,
that the state Department of Social Services licenses and
regulates child day care facilities, and that persons or
organizations offering child day care must comply with
specified licensure requirements
AB 2084
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill addresses nutritional standards in licensed
child care settings in an effort to fight childhood obesity.
Under the state Child Day Care Facilities Act, child day care
centers are required to provide safe and healthy environments
for children. Generally, these facilities must comply with
state mandated licensure requirements in the following areas:
Fire clearance, capacity determination, teacher to child ratio,
indoor/outdoor space requirements, staffing for water
activities, administrator qualifications, director
qualifications, teacher and teacher aide qualifications, and
food service. According to the author, there are 15,140
licensed center-based sites and 42,907 family home sites in
California, with capacity for 1.2 million children from birth to
12 years of age.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
approximately one of every four children between the ages of two
to five has a high body mass index, putting these children at
risk of obesity, which can lead to type two diabetes,
hypertension, sleep apnea, and other adverse health conditions.
Childhood obesity can lead to obese adults with chronic health
conditions resulting in increased health costs.
Good nutrition, physical activity and limiting media exposures
(TV time) help to prevent childhood obesity. With over four
million children between birth and 12 years of age in California
having one or two working parents who rely on child care
services, child care settings, including center and home-based
care, play an important role in influencing good eating habits
and teaching the importance of physical activities.
In August 2007, the California Department of Education (CDE) and
the Health and Human Services Agency convened a stakeholder
group to come up with key recommendations for reducing childhood
overweight/obesity in child care settings. This group came up
with a number of recommendations, including adding nutrition and
activity standards in child care licensing and strengthening
nutrition standards in the CACFP in California. This bill is
consistent with those efforts.
This bill is a modified version of AB 627 (Brownley) from 2009.
The provisions in AB 627 that required nutrition standards as a
AB 2084
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condition of licensure were deleted from the bill in the Senate.
AB 2084 would create standards for beverages served in licensed
child care settings. The author states that research
increasingly points to sugary beverages, such as soda, sports
drinks, and juice drinks, as a major factor in rising rates of
obesity. The extra calories from sugar drinks accounts for
nearly half of the increase in calories Americans have consumed
over the past thirty years. A simple switch from these sugary
drinks to water could result in 235 fewer calories consumed per
day. AB 2084 encourages healthier habits by establishing
guidelines for beverages provided by providers, including
restricting sugary drinks, encouraging water consumption,
limiting juice to one serving of 100% juice, and promoting
low-fat and non-fat milk. These nutrition guidelines are
consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and
recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
This bill is also consistent with the Governor's initiative to
fight obesity. In part, the Governor proposes to require school
districts to make fresh drinking water available in food service
areas and prohibit the sale of sports drinks in middle and high
schools.
Suggested amendment
AB 627 from last year included a provision that provided for an
exception from the nutritional requirements due to a child's
medical condition. The author may wish to add the following:
If a child has a medical necessity, documented by a
physician, that prevents a child day care facility from
complying with the requirements of this section, then the
facility shall be exempt from those requirements, to the
extent necessary, for purposes of that child only.
Prior Legislation
AB 627 (Brownley), 2009-2010, would have established a 12-month
or more pilot project in which a number of licensed child care
centers and child day care homes that participate in the Child
Care & Adult Food Program (CACFP) would receive higher state
meal reimbursement to implement higher nutrition and physical
activity standards. A component of the pilot is an evaluation
that will be conducted by an independent agency to assess the
health, nutrition and other related impacts on children,
providers, and parents. This bill was vetoed by the Governor
because, although he recognized the health benefits, he believed
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this bill would create pressure to add Proposition 98 General
Fund resources to the Child and Adult Care Food program when
funding for so many other education programs had been cut.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Food Policy Advocates (sponsor)
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Medical Association (CMA)
California Teachers Association
Central Coast Hunger Coalition
Dental Health Foundation
Fresno Metro Ministry
Plowshares
Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. WIC Program
Second Harvest Food Bank, Santa Cruz
Lorrene D. Ritchie, PhD, RD - University of CA Berkeley
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Frances Chacon / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089