[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2739 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2739
To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote healthy eating and
physical activity among children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 9, 2025
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
2025''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to 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) to provide support to States on ways to link early care
and education programs to nutrition supports;
(3) to monitor progress of healthy eating and physical
activity promotion in early care and education settings; and
(4) to 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.
Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
280h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 399Z-3. HEALTHY KIDS GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this
section as the `Secretary') 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--
``(1) to improve healthy eating and physical activity among
children ages birth through 5 years in early care and education
settings; and
``(2) to address food insecurity among such children.
``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an entity shall be--
``(1) a nonprofit organization with expertise in early
childhood health and childhood obesity prevention;
``(2) an institution of higher education (as defined in
section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) or research
center that employs faculty with relevant expertise and has
expertise in training early care and education providers; or
``(3) a consortium of entities described in paragraphs (1)
and (2) that submit a single application to carry out
activities under the grant jointly.
``(c) Application.--An entity seeking a grant under subsection (a)
shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(d) 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--
``(A) to 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 Secretary;
``(B) to 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;
and
``(C) to 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 implementing
partners under paragraph (1), a recipient of a grant under this
section shall ensure that such partners--
``(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 Secretary 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.
``(e) Tracking State Progress.--The Secretary may use amounts
appropriated under subsection (h)(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.
``(f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the completion of the
programs and activities (including monitoring and surveillance under
subsection (e)) funded under grants awarded under this section, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress, and all appropriate Federal
agencies, a report concerning an evaluation of the results of such
programs and activities, 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.
``(g) Early Care and Education Defined.--In this section, 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.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2026 through 2030.
``(2) Funding for tracking state progress.--In addition to
amounts made available under paragraph (1), there is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out subsection (e) $1,700,000 for
fiscal year 2026.''.
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