RESEARCH IN AGING AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS FOR THE ELDERLY, 1971 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1971 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 9:15 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 4232, New Senate Office Building, Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Eagleton (presiding), Kennedy, Stevenson, and Taft. Committee staff members present: James J. Murphy, counsel to the subcommittee; and Michael S. Gordon, minority counsel to the subcommittee. Senator EAGLETON. The committee will come to order. This morning, ladies and gentlemen, we have some scheduling and time problems so I am going to convene these hearings a bit early and maybe call a witness or two out of turn. I have an opening statement which I will place in the record at this time. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS F. EAGLETON, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI This morning we will hear testimony on S. 1163, the bill introduced by Senator Kennedy to establish a nutrition program for the elderly under the Older Americans Act. Hunger and malnutrition among our people result generally from an inadequate income and/or a lack of nutritional knowledge. Among the aged, 25 to 30 percent of whom live in poverty, these factors are important contributors to malnutrition. But the aged also face other problems. Lack of physical mobility or of transportation may impair their ability to shop for food. Those who live in rented rooms may not have cooking and refrigeration facilities. And there are important social and psychological considerations. Those elderly people who live alone and are isolated from family and friends simply may lack the motivation to prepare adequate meals for themselves. Congress recognized the special nutritional problems of the elderly in 1968 when it earmarked funds, under title IV of the Older Americans Act, for a special research and demonstration program to im prove nutritional services for the elderly. Experience with the resulting demonstration projects has clearly shown and I quote from the Administration on Aging's preliminary evaluation of these projects-that "the provision of meals in a group setting is a highly desirable approach because it fosters social interaction, facilitates the delivery of other services, and meets emotional needs of the aged while improving their nutrition." The success of these demonstration projects has been reflected in recommendations for the establishment of a permanent program. The Panel on Aging of the 1969 White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health recommended that the Administration on Aging and the Department of Agriculture undertake a permanent funding program of daily meal delivery service for the aged in group settings. Similarly, the President's Task Force on the Aging, in its April 1970 report, recommended the development of a program of technical and financial assistance to local groups to provide daily meals to older people. S. 1163 would carry out these recommendations. During hearings last year on a similar bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Claude Pepper, the administration expressed its opposition to a "categorical grant program" in favor of the intergration of "nutrition services into a system of comprehensively delivered social services." To date no administration proposal to achieve this goal has been forthcoming. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was originally scheduled to testify on S. 1163 today, has asked that they be permitted to present their views at a later time, as have representatives of the Department of Agriculture. In his message of May 1969, President Nixon stated that "the time has now come to put an end to hunger in America itself for all time." Federal funding for the remaining 18 nutrition demonstration projects is now expiring. To meet the goal set by the President, I believe the Congress should proceed without undue delay to establish a nutrition program especially tailored to the needs of the elderly. To this end, I am hopeful that we can have the constructive comments and recommendations of the administration in the near future. At this point, I will ask that the text of S. 1163 and the recommendations of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health and the President's Task Force on the Aging, to which I have referred, be printed in the hearing record. (A copy of S. 1163 follows:) 68-179 O - 71-7 92D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1163 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 10, 1971 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. EAGLETON, Mr. BIBLE, Mr. CHURCH, Mr. CRANSTON, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. Moss, Mr. PASTORE, Mr. PELL, Mr. PERCY, and Mr. TUNNEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare A BILL To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide grants to States for the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of low-cost meal programs, nutrition training and education programs, opportunity for social contacts, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 lives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. Title VII of the Older Americans Act of 3 4 1965 is redesignated as title VIII, and sections 701 through 5 705 of that Act are respectively redesignated as sections 801 6 through 805. 7 SEC. 2. The Older Americans Act of 1965 is amended 8 by inserting the following new title immediately after title 9 VI thereof: II 4 2 "TITLE VII-NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR THE ELDERLY "FINDINGS AND PURPOSE "SEC. 701. (a) The Congress finds that the research 5 and development grants, title IV, Older Americans Act, 6 nutrition program has demonstrated the effectiveness of and 7 the need for permanent nationwide programs to provide the 8 nutritional and social needs of millions of persons aged sixty9 five or older who are unable to overcome the complex and 10 intertwining problems of inadequate diets. Many of these 11 elderly persons do not eat adequately because they cannot 12 afford to do so, while others, who are economically better off, 13 do not eat well because they lack the skills to select and pre14 pare nourishing and well-balanced meals, have limited mo15 bility which may impair their capacity to shop and cook for 16 themselves, and have feelings of rejection and loneliness 17 which obliterate the incentive necessary to prepare and eat 18 a meal alone. These and other physiological, psycho19 logical, social, and economic changes that occur with aging 20 result in a pattern of living, which causes malnutrition and 21 further physical and mental deterioration. 22 "(b) In addition to the food stamp program, commodity 23 distribution systems and old-age income benefits, there is an 24 acute need for a national policy aimed at providing the 25 elderly with low cost, nutritionally sound meals served in 3 1 strategically located centers such as community centers, sen2 ior citizen centers, schools, and other public or private non3 profit institutions suited to such use and through other means 4 toward this purpose. Besides promoting better health among 5 the older segment of our population through improved nutri6 tion, such a program, implemented through the use of a 7 variety of community resources, would be a means of pro8 moting greater opportunity for social contact ending the 9 isolation of old age, increasing participants' knowledge of 10 nutrition and health in general, and promoting positive men11 tal health and independence through the encouragement of greater physical and mental activities. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "ADMINISTRATION "SEC. 702. (a) In order to effectively carry out the purposes of this title, the Secretary shall "(1) administer the program through the Admin istration on Aging; and "(2) consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and make full utilization of the Federal Extension Service, the Food and Nutrition Service, and other existing services of the Department of Agriculture. "(b) In carrying out the provisions of this title, the Secretary is authorized to request the technical assistance 2-1 and cooperation of the Department of Labor, the Office of 25 Economic Opportunity, the Department of Housing and |