LIFE Act

I 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Healthier 4 Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise Act of 5 2020’’ or the ‘‘LIFE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5683.IH H5683 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5683 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds as follows: 2 (1) Data from the Centers for Disease Control 3 and Prevention shows that in 2015–2016 close to 40 4 percent of adults in the United States were obese 5 and 71.6 percent of Americans were overweight or 6 obese. Approximately 7.7 percent of adults were se- 7 verely obese. 8 (2) Data from two National Health and Nutri- 9 tion Examination Surveys shows that the prevalence 10 of obesity among adults increased from 15.0 percent 11 in 1976–1980 to 39.8 percent in 2015–2016. 12 (3) In 2015–2016, the prevalence of obesity 13 among youth aged 2–19 was 18.5 percent and af- 14 fected approximately 13,700,000 children and ado- 15 lescents. 16 (4) The percentage of children and adolescents 17 who are obese has increased since 1971–1974, when 18 the percentage was 5 percent. 19 (5) In 2018, only 53.3 percent of United States 20 adults aged 18–64 met the 2008 Federal guidelines 21 for aerobic activity. The 2008 Federal Physical Ac- 22 tivity Guidelines for American Adults recommends 23 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic 24 physical activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous- 25 intensity aerobic physical activity. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5683.IH H5683 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5683 IH (6) The rising rates of obesity portend greater 1 disease and health conditions, including hyper- 2 tension, high total cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coro- 3 nary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, 4 osteoporosis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and 5 some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and colon 6 cancer. 7 (7) Many underlying factors have been linked to 8 the increase in obesity, such as increasing portion 9 sizes, eating out more often, increased consumption 10 of sugar-sweetened drinks, increasing television, 11 computer, and electronic gaming time, changing 12 labor markets, and fear of crime, which prevents 13 outdoor exercise. 14 (8) Chronic diseases account for 1,700,000, or 15 70 percent, of all deaths in the United States each 16 year. Although chronic diseases are among the most 17 common and costly health problems, they are also 18 among the most preventable. Adopting a healthy 19 lifestyle, such as eating nutritious foods and engag- 20 ing in physical activity, can prevent or control the 21 devastating effects of these diseases. 22 (9) In 2008, overall medical costs related to 23 obesity for United States adults were estimated to 24 be as high as $147,000,000,000. People who were 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5683.IH H5683 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5683 IH obese had medical costs that were on average $1,429 1 higher than the cost for people of normal body 2 weight. 3 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND 4 OBESITY. 5 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 6 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec- 7 tion 317T the following section: 8 ‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT 9 AND OBESITY. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 11 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 12 vention, shall carry out a national program to conduct and 13 support activities regarding individuals who are over- 14 weight or obese in order to make progress toward the goal 15 of significantly reducing the number of cases of overweight 16 and obesity among individuals in the United States. 17 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub- 18 section (a), the Secretary shall (directly or through grants 19 or contracts) carry out the following with respect to indi- 20 viduals who are overweight or obese: 21 ‘‘(1) Activities to train health professionals to 22 recognize that patients are overweight or obese and 23 to recommend prevention activities regarding such 24 condition, including educating patients on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5683.IH H5683 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5683 IH ‘‘(A) the relationship between such condi- 1 tion and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and 2 other health conditions; and 3 ‘‘(B) the benefits of proper nutrition and 4 regular physical activities. 5 ‘‘(2) Activities to educate the public with re- 6 spect to the condition of being overweight or obese, 7 including the development of a strategy for a public 8 awareness campaign. 9 ‘‘(3) The development and demonstration of 10 intervention strategies for use at worksites and in 11 community settings such as hospitals and commu- 12 nity health centers. 13 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 14 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 15 to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, and 16 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 17 2022 and 2023.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jan 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5683.IH H5683 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS