Three (3) separate items from the CDC.
Item #1
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), DP16-1607: Sodium Reduction in Communities Program, to implement and evaluate promising, broad-reaching, and sustainable strategies, while engaging food sector collaborators to facilitate reductions in sodium levels in commercially processed and restaurant foods.

About 90% of Americans consume too much sodium, increasing their risk of high blood pressure.  Americans consume about 3,400 mg of sodium each day, more than the recommended limits for sodium intake in the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  This new FOA will continue to build on CDC's ongoing commitment to reduce sodium intake at the population level, in line with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans<http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/> which recommend adults and children 14 years and older limit sodium intake to 2300 mg each day.


Consistent with the 2015 -2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this FOA aims to target sodium reduction not only at the point of purchase and selection, but also in product reformulation and menu and retail modification.  This approach is important because over 75% of the sodium Americans eat comes from restaurant and processed foods-not salt added at the table or during home cooking, making personal sodium intake reduction difficult.
The design of the new FOA is congruent with the social-ecological framework outlined in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines.  Grantees will implement and expand on sustainable strategies while engaging food sector collaborators (e.g. vendors, suppliers, and/or trade association affiliates) to facilitate reductions in sodium levels in commercially processed and restaurant foods.

More information about the FOA and application requirements is available at www.grants.gov<http://www.grants.gov> and www.cdc.gov/salt/foa.htm<http://www.cdc.gov/salt/foa.htm>.  CDC will host an Informational Teleconference to answer questions about the FOA at 3:30 PM (ET) on January 28th, 2016. Please join by calling Toll Number: 1-210-234-0044; or Toll Free Number: 888-810-4938; Participant passcode: 8344668.

We're excited about enhancing sodium reduction strategies to prevent heart disease and stroke. CDC is looking forward to working with the new grantees, and thanks you for your continued interest and commitment to heart disease and stroke prevention.

Sincerely,
Barbara A. Bowman, PhD
Director
Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention




Item #2

A new report, Freedom from Hunger: an Achievable Goal for the United States of America, was released by the National Commission on Hunger on January 5th.

To identify solutions to hunger, Congress created the bipartisan National Commission on Hunger "to provide policy recommendations to Congress and the USDA Secretary to more effectively use existing programs and funds of the Department of Agriculture to combat domestic hunger and food insecurity."

This report is based on the commission members' full agreement that hunger cannot be solved by food alone, nor by government efforts alone. The solutions to hunger require a stronger economy, robust community engagement, corporate partnerships, and greater personal responsibility, as well as strong government programs.
To access the report please see https://hungercommission.rti.org/.




Item #3

Los Fresnos CATCH Project Report
CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health)<http://catchinfo.org/> is a program to prevent childhood obesity and launch kids and communities toward healthier lifestyles.

CATCH was implemented in 9 elementary and 3 middle schools and reached approximately 7,500 children. The objectives for the Los Fresnos CATCH project were to increase physical activity and healthy eating, build community capacity to sustain a healthy environment, and reduce childhood obesity among elementary and middle school students in Los Fresnos CISD. After implementing CATCH, there was a 29% increase in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in PE classes. Also, the percentage of students with a healthy BMI increased from 47% to 60%, a statistically significant improvement of 27%.

CATCH recently released the case study<http://catchinfo.org/case-study/los-fresnos/>, report<http://catchinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Los-Fresnos-Report-12-14.pdf>, and infographic (below) about Los Fresnos ISD in South Texas. Please see the case study or full report for more details.

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