A Recap of This Week’s Top News – February 10, 2023

Changes to policy, scientific discovery, and expert recommendations and opinions all have the power to rapidly influence the landscape of a sector. Whether you’re a leader at a non-profit, a member of a university’s marketing department, or a stakeholder for a public health agency, being informed about the latest industry happenings can be the difference between exceeding and falling short of organizational goals. At Hager Sharp, our experts vigorously scan media coverage to identify areas of opportunity. And now, with the introduction of the Sharp Round-Up, you too can review what we consider some of the top news of the week.

Below you will find a compilation of news spanning the health and education, labor, and economy sectors. This list includes mainstream, DC-focused, and trade publication coverage from Saturday, February 4, to Friday, February 10. Let these clips serve as a resource when developing thoughtful strategies and use them to further foster organizational innovation and adaptability.

Here’s what you need to know.

Politics and Policy:

• The Biden administration announced more stringent standards for school meals to be rolled out over the next few years, including limiting added sugars. This is the first federal limit on how much such sugars can be included in school meals. This is part of a broader campaign by the U.S. Agriculture Department to address childhood obesity; the department is responsible for feeding 30 million students in schools across the country.

Health News:

• The CDC reported last week that the spike in children’s strep infections in 2022 was a return to the number of infections pre-COVID-19. In 2018, CDC’s Active Bacterial Core surveillance labs reported 25,160 severe strep cases; figures are not yet available for 2022.
• In D.C., HIV cases continue to be low, despite an uptick in 2021, which public health experts attribute to lack of testing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 230 new diagnoses in 2021, an increase from 2019, but a decline from 2007.
• A new study from the CDC found that a majority of adults in the U.S. favor policies that would ban the sales of tobacco products, especially menthol cigarettes. Over 57% of adults favored banning the sale of all products and 62% favored banning the sale of menthol cigarettes in particular. This support varied by demographic group and current tobacco use.

Education News:

• Data released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) revealed that almost 50 percent of American students started the school year below grade level. An increase in access and opportunity for high-level tutoring may help bring student success back to pre-pandemic levels.
• A recent report by the Lumina Foundation found that Black students have lower college completion rates than other racial and ethnic groups, a statistic which is attributed to the “implicit and overt forms of racial discrimination” that Black students face across the country.