SECTIONS 104575-104600 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 104575-104600

104575. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
"California Nutrition Monitoring Development Act of 1986."

104580. The Legislature declares that the purposes of this article
are to determine the availability and types of nutrition monitoring
information that are currently available in specified federal, state
and local government programs and in selected private sector
programs; to determine what additional information is needed to help
legislators, state and local agencies and nongovernment users, to
operate cost-effective services and to target funds where most
needed; and to assess the feasibility of establishing a prototype
state-local data system that will provide regular reports on the:
nutritional status and nutrition related health problems of
California's population, dietary intake and food consumption
patterns, nutrition education information, including knowledge and
attitude regarding nutrition, quality and healthfulness of the food
supply, nutrition programs and service availability, including
population served, service statistics, frequency and periodicity of
data collection and types of reports, related socioeconomic factors,
and on the state's ability to provide for food and nutrition services
where needed.

104585. (a) The department shall assess the availability and
adequacy of existing state and local food and nutrition data systems.
All state departments and agencies that are required to provide data
pursuant to this article are encouraged to participate to the
fullest extent possible in all aspects of this program and to make
their data available to counties upon request.
(b) The state departments from which existing data shall be
provided for project purposes shall include the State Departments of
Health Services, Aging, Education, and Social Services. Upon request
of the department, these departments shall provide existing
nutrition-related data collection forms, documentation, and reports,
including, but not limited to, the following programs:
(1) In the Department of Aging: Congregate Nutrition Services,
Home Delivered Nutrition Services, and the Brown Bag Network.
(2) In the State Department of Education: National School Lunch
Program, the National School Breakfast Program, the Child Care Food
Program, the Special Milk Program, the Nutrition Education and
Training Program, and the various commodities programs.
(3) In the department: Special Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Comprehensive Perinatal Care
Program, the Genetics Disease Program, the Child Health and
Disability Prevention Program, California Children's Services, County
Health Services, Primary Health Services Development, Indian Health
Program, Medical Care Services (Medi-Cal), Adult Health, and Vital
Statistics.
(4) In the State Department of Social Services: the Food Stamp
Program.
(c) The department may require any other state agency, department,
board, or commission, with the exception of the University of
California, to provide existing nutrition-related data, as described
in this article. The department may request the University of
California to provide this data in the case of the University of
California Cooperative Extension Program, the Home Economics Program,
and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. Additionally,
other programs in local government and the private sector, such as
local public health and social services departments, food banks,
pantries, and meal programs, voluntary health organizations, and
charitable social service agencies shall be encouraged to provide
available nutrition monitoring information.

104590. (a) The department shall conduct a survey of state agencies
and of counterpart local and private sector programs which now
collect or use nutrition data or both. The department shall determine
user needs for and applications of data, the adequacy of existing
data systems, the costs compared to benefits of collecting this
information, and recommendations about future data needs.
(b) The department shall assess the degree to which data is
available to monitor the California Model Standards for Nutrition
Services (guidelines for local health departments), the 1990
Nutrition Objectives for the Nation (national health priorities), the
nutrition surveillance programs of the United States Centers for
Disease Control (prenatal and pediatric surveillance and behavioral
risk factors survey related to chronic diseases) and other similar
public health objectives.
(c) The department shall outline a process for developing a
prototype state-local nutrition monitoring system. The prototype
system shall be scientifically sound and, insofar as is practicable,
compatible with those employed by the United States Department of
Agriculture, the United States Department of Health and Human
Services, the National Public Health Reporting System, and
recommendations by other recognized authorities. The department shall
review existing or proposed systems such as the Statewide
Environmental and Evaluation Program System (SWEEPS) and the
Nutrition Management Information and Surveillance System (Nutri-MISS)
respectively for their applicability to this purpose.

104600. The department, using applicable state procedures, may
contract for any of the services required by this article, in which
case the contractor or contractors shall have demonstrated expertise
in the fields of nutrition monitoring and epidemiology, nutrition
program operations, and community organization.