[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5683 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5683
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national
program to conduct and support activities toward the goal of
significantly reducing the number of cases of overweight and obesity
among individuals in the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 27, 2020
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a national
program to conduct and support activities toward the goal of
significantly reducing the number of cases of overweight and obesity
among individuals in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Healthier Lifelong
Improvements in Food and Exercise Act of 2020'' or the ``LIFE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Data from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention shows that in 2015-2016 close to 40 percent of
adults in the United States were obese and 71.6 percent of
Americans were overweight or obese. Approximately 7.7 percent
of adults were severely obese.
(2) Data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination
Surveys shows that the prevalence of obesity among adults
increased from 15.0 percent in 1976-1980 to 39.8 percent in
2015-2016.
(3) In 2015-2016, the prevalence of obesity among youth
aged 2-19 was 18.5 percent and affected approximately
13,700,000 children and adolescents.
(4) The percentage of children and adolescents who are
obese has increased since 1971-1974, when the percentage was 5
percent.
(5) In 2018, only 53.3 percent of United States adults aged
18-64 met the 2008 Federal guidelines for aerobic activity. The
2008 Federal Physical Activity Guidelines for American Adults
recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic
physical activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity
aerobic physical activity.
(6) The rising rates of obesity portend greater disease and
health conditions, including hypertension, high total
cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke,
gallbladder disease, osteoporosis, sleep apnea, respiratory
problems, and some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and
colon cancer.
(7) Many underlying factors have been linked to the
increase in obesity, such as increasing portion sizes, eating
out more often, increased consumption of sugar-sweetened
drinks, increasing television, computer, and electronic gaming
time, changing labor markets, and fear of crime, which prevents
outdoor exercise.
(8) Chronic diseases account for 1,700,000, or 70 percent,
of all deaths in the United States each year. Although chronic
diseases are among the most common and costly health problems,
they are also among the most preventable. Adopting a healthy
lifestyle, such as eating nutritious foods and engaging in
physical activity, can prevent or control the devastating
effects of these diseases.
(9) In 2008, overall medical costs related to obesity for
United States adults were estimated to be as high as
$147,000,000,000. People who were obese had medical costs that
were on average $1,429 higher than the cost for people of
normal body weight.
SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY.
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317T the following
section:
``SEC. 317U. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall carry out a
national program to conduct and support activities regarding
individuals who are overweight or obese in order to make progress
toward the goal of significantly reducing the number of cases of
overweight and obesity among individuals in the United States.
``(b) Certain Activities.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Secretary shall (directly or through grants or contracts) carry out the
following with respect to individuals who are overweight or obese:
``(1) Activities to train health professionals to recognize
that patients are overweight or obese and to recommend
prevention activities regarding such condition, including
educating patients on--
``(A) the relationship between such condition and
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health
conditions; and
``(B) the benefits of proper nutrition and regular
physical activities.
``(2) Activities to educate the public with respect to the
condition of being overweight or obese, including the
development of a strategy for a public awareness campaign.
``(3) The development and demonstration of intervention
strategies for use at worksites and in community settings such
as hospitals and community health centers.
``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000
for fiscal year 2021, and such sums as may be necessary for each of
fiscal years 2022 and 2023.''.
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