Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Children and youth

Apr 25, 2024 - Notice of final rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) finalizing long-term school nutrition requirements based on the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, stakeholder input, and lessons learned from prior rulemaking. Among other things, this rule phases in added sugars limits for the school lunch and breakfast programs and in the Child and Adult Care Food Program, implements a single sodium reduction in the school lunch and breakfast programs, and establishes long-term milk and whole grain requirements for school meals. Program operators will not be required to make changes to their menus until school year 2025-2026 at the earliest. This rule is effective July 1, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 19, 2024 - Notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) extending the comment period on the December 29, 2023, interim final rule titled "Establishing the Summer EBT Program and Rural Non-Congregate Option in the Summer Meal Programs." The interim final rule amends the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the National School Lunch Program's Seamless Summer Option (SSO) regulations to codify the flexibility for rural program operators to provide non-congregate meal service in the SFSP and SSO. This rule also establishes regulations and codifies a permanent summer electronic benefits transfer for children program (Summer EBT) to ensure continued access to food when school is not in session for the summer. Comments are now due by August 27, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 18, 2024 - Describes a program for rural underserved high school students in Tennessee interested in healthcare careers, aiming to recruit students into the healthcare field. The program offers hands-on experience with the medical field.
Source: ETSU News
Apr 18, 2024 - Notice of final rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) revising regulations governing the WIC food packages. The revisions align the WIC food package regulations with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and reflect recommendations made by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in its 2017 report, "Review of WIC Food Packages: Improving Balance and Choice" while promoting nutrition security and equity. Among other things, this rule intends to provide WIC participants with a wider variety of foods that align with the latest nutritional science; provide WIC State agencies with greater flexibility to prescribe and tailor food packages that accommodate participants' special dietary needs and personal and cultural food preferences; provide foods in amounts that are more consistent with the supplemental nature of the Program; and strengthen support for individual breastfeeding goals to help establish successful long-term breastfeeding. This rule is effective June 17, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 17, 2024 - A rural pediatric partnership is expanding into new areas in rural Georgia. The initiative equips rural hospitals with the tools, best practices, training, and research to offer quality healthcare in rural areas, aiding residents who would otherwise have to travel for specialty care. Initiative offers support for emergency department care, pediatrician and telehealthcare, and behavioral and mental health assessments and interventions. The program also offers scholarships for students who commit to working in rural communities.
Source: The Den
Apr 10, 2024 - Discusses mental healthcare access for children in Michigan schools, noting that workforce shortages most impact rural areas. Discusses funding, recruitment and retention, and training.
Source: The Mining Journal
Apr 2, 2024 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making changes to simplify the eligibility and enrollment processes in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Basic Health Program. This rule aligns enrollment and renewal requirements for most individuals in Medicaid; creates timeliness requirements for redeterminations of eligibility; makes transitions between programs easier; eliminates access barriers for children enrolled in CHIP by prohibiting premium lock-out periods, benefit limitations, and waiting periods; and modernizes recordkeeping requirements to ensure proper documentation of eligibility determinations. These regulations are effective June 3, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Mar 29, 2024 - Announces new provisions giving Head Start programs additional flexibility to serve children in tribal communities and children of farmworkers. Tribally-run Head Start programs can enroll children regardless of family income, and any child who has one or more family member engaged in agricultural employment is now eligible for Head Start.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Mar 26, 2024 - Highlights a study in progress investigating eating disorders in rural Michigan teenagers. The study aims to identify rural environment characteristics and weight stigma that may contribute to eating disorders.
Source: ABC12
Mar 25, 2024 - Highlights a program offering healthy aging support in rural Oklahoma. The program creates intergenerational teams to foster dialog about healthy aging throughout the lifespan.
Source: OSU Headlines: News and Media