[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3171 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3171
To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote healthy eating and
physical activity among children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 31, 2023
Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote healthy eating and
physical activity among children.
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 ``Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) establish a program that will enhance the training and
knowledge of early care and education providers and influence
practices, policies, and environments in early care and
education settings to support healthy eating and physical
activity for children ages birth through 5, including by
addressing the growing threat of food insecurity;
(2) provide support to States on ways to link early care
and education programs to nutrition supports;
(3) monitor progress of healthy eating and physical
activity promotion in early care and education settings; and
(4) identify emerging, and expand existing, approaches to
engaging families and parents of children ages birth to 5 in
healthy eating and physical activity.
SEC. 3. HEALTHY KIDS PROGRAM.
Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``PART W--HEALTHY KIDS PROGRAM
``SEC. 399OO. GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE HEALTHY EATING AND PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY AND TO ADDRESS FOOD INSECURITY AMONG CHILDREN.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in coordination with
the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and
Families, shall award 5-year competitive grants to one or more eligible
entities to improve healthy eating and physical activity and to address
food insecurity among children ages birth through 5 years in early care
and education settings.
``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an entity shall--
``(1) be--
``(A) a nonprofit organization with expertise in
early childhood health and childhood obesity
prevention;
``(B) an institution of higher education or
research center that employs faculty with relevant
expertise and has expertise in training early care and
education providers; or
``(C) a consortium of entities described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B) that submit a single
application to carry out activities under the grant
jointly; and
``(2) submit to the Director an application at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Director
may require.
``(c) Use of Funds.--
``(1) In general.--An entity shall use amounts received
under a grant under this section to work directly with
implementing partners, which may include States, territories,
Indian Tribes, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations,
to--
``(A) create sustainable programs to train early
care and education providers through direct coaching
and peer-learning, access to quality technical
assistance, and professional development opportunities
that are focused on healthy eating, physical activity,
addressing food insecurity, and other topics that
support children's healthy development, as determined
by the Director;
``(B) build State capacity through training,
technical assistance, and resources to integrate the
promotion of healthy eating and physical activity into
existing early care and education programs, systems,
and initiatives, including linking early care and
education programs to new and existing resources for
nutrition supports, with a focus on promoting equity;
or
``(C) test innovative or evidence-informed
approaches to promoting healthy habits and healthy
child development in early care and education settings,
which may include linking early care and education and
health care providers, enhancing early care and
education staff wellness, enhancing access to quality
foods in the early care and education settings, and
engaging families of children ages birth to 5 years
served in the early care and education programs
supported by a grant under this section.
``(2) Implementing partners.--In selecting States,
territories, Indian tribes, municipalities, or nonprofit
organizations to be implementing partners under a grant under
this section, a grantee shall ensure that such partners,
collectively--
``(A) serve populations that are racially,
ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically
diverse; and
``(B) represent a mix of rural and urban settings.
``(3) National independent evaluator.--From the amounts
appropriated to carry out this section, and prior to awarding
any grants under paragraph (1), the Director shall enter into a
contract with an external entity to create a single, uniform
process to--
``(A) ensure that entities that receive grants
under paragraph (1) comply with the requirements of
this section; and
``(B) evaluate the outcomes of the grant activities
carried out by each participating entity.
``(d) Tracking State Progress.--The Director may use amounts
appropriated under subsection (f)(2) to enter into contracts with, or
award grants to, institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, or other entities with relevant monitoring and
surveillance expertise, for purposes of--
``(1) tracking State progress in obesity prevention
policies and practices of early care and education programs in
States where grantees are present; and
``(2) measuring changes in food security within exposed
groups.
``(e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the completion of the
grant program, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the
results of the programs, activities, and surveillance carried out under
such grant program, including best practices and lessons derived from
the experiences of grantees with respect to reducing and preventing
food insecurity and obesity and overweight among children ages birth
through 5 years in the early care and education settings.
``(f) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) the term `Director' means the Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention; and
``(2) the term `early care and education' means programs
and activities that serve children ages birth through 5 years
either through in-home or out-of-home settings, including
childcare programs, Head Start programs, family childcare, and
pre-kindergarten programs.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section--
``(1) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through
2028; and
``(2) $1,700,000 for fiscal year 2024, to be used to track
State progress in obesity prevention and food security policies
and practices of early care and education programs in a
sentinel set of States as provided for in subsection (d).''.
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