[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2249

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program 
          regarding eating disorders, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 24, 2002

 Mrs. Clinton (for herself and Mr. Bingaman) 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 establish a grant program 
          regarding eating disorders, and for other purposes.

    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 Healthy Eating Behaviors 
in Youth Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by 
        self-starvation and excessive weight loss.
            (2) Anorexia Nervosa is common: an estimated .5 to 3.7 
        percent of American women will suffer from this disorder in 
        their lifetime.
            (3) Anorexia Nervosa is associated with serious health 
        consequences including heart failure, kidney failure, 
        osteoporosis, and death.
            (4) Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all 
        psychiatric disorders. A young woman is 12 times more likely to 
        die than other women her age without Anorexia.
            (5) Anorexia Nervosa usually appears in adolescence.
            (6) Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by 
        excessive food consumption followed by inappropriate 
        compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse 
        of laxatives, fasting, or excessive exercise.
            (7) Bulimia Nervosa is common: an estimated 1.1 to 4.2 
        percent of American women will suffer from this disorder in 
        their lifetime.
            (8) Bulimia Nervosa is associated with cardiac, 
        gastrointestinal, and dental problems including irregular 
        heartbeats, gastric rupture, peptic ulcer, and tooth decay.
            (9) Bulimia Nervosa usually appears in adolescence.
            (10) On the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 7.5 percent of 
        high school girls reported recent use of laxatives or vomiting 
        to control their weight.
            (11) Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by frequent 
        episodes of uncontrolled overeating.
            (12) Binge Eating Disorder is common: an estimated 2 to 5 
        percent of Americans experience this disorder in a 6-month 
        period.
            (13) Binge Eating is associated with obesity, heart 
        disease, gall bladder disease, and diabetes.
            (14) Eating disorders are commonly associated with 
        substantial psychological problems, including depression, 
        substance abuse, and suicide.
            (15) Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions: 27 percent 
        of United States adults are obese and 13 percent of children 
        and 14 percent of adolescents are seriously overweight.
            (16) Poor eating habits have led to a ``calcium crisis'' 
        among American youth: only 13.5 percent of adolescent girls get 
        the recommended daily amount of calcium, placing them at 
        serious risk for osteoporosis and other bone diseases. Because 
        nearly 90 percent of adult bone mass is established by the end 
        of this age range, the Nation's youth's insufficient calcium 
        intake is truly a calcium crisis.
            (17) Eating disorders of all types are more common in women 
        than men.
            (18) Eating preferences and habits are established in 
        childhood.
            (19) Poor eating habits are a risk factor for the 
        development of eating disorders, obesity and osteoporosis.
            (20) However, simply urging overweight youth to be thin has 
        not reduced the prevalence of obesity and may result in other 
        problems including body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, and 
        eating disorders.
            (21) Therefore, effective interventions for promoting 
        healthy eating behaviors in youth should promote healthy 
        lifestyle and not inadvertently promote unhealthy weight 
        management techniques.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To increase preventive health activities designed to 
        promote the development of healthy eating habits and behaviors 
        in youth.
            (2) To support research to develop and test educational 
        curricula and intervention programs aimed at promoting healthy 
eating habits and behaviors in youth.
            (3) To identify and disseminate effective intervention 
        programs aimed at promoting healthy eating habits and behaviors 
        in youth.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Use of Allotments.--Section 1904(a)(1) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300w-3) is amended by adding after subparagraph 
(G) the following:
            ``(H) Activities designed to address and prevent eating 
        disorders, obesity, and osteoporosis through effective programs 
        to promote healthy eating and exercise habits and behaviors in 
        youth.''.
    (b) Part A of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300w et seq.) is amended by adding after section 1910 the following:

``SEC. 1911. GRANT PROGRAM FOR EATING DISORDERS, OBESITY, AND 
              INADEQUATE CALCIUM INTAKE.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary, acting through the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (hereafter 
the `Director'), shall award grants or cooperative agreements to 
accredited universities, colleges, or nonprofit organizations with 
demonstrated capability to conduct research to comprehensively promote 
healthy eating behaviors in youth. Such grants or cooperative 
agreements may be awarded to target youth or specific at-risk 
populations, such as adolescent girls.
    ``(b) Duration.--Grants or cooperative agreements awarded under 
this section shall be awarded for a period of not more than 4 years.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--A university, college, or nonprofit 
organization that receives a grant or cooperative agreement under this 
section shall use funds received to develop and test educational 
curricula and intervention programs designed to promote healthy eating 
behaviors and habits in youth, including science-based interventions 
with multiple components such as--
            ``(1) nutritional content;
            ``(2) understanding and responding to hunger and satiety;
            ``(3) positive body image development;
            ``(4) positive self-esteem development; and
            ``(5) learning life skills, such as stress management, 
        communication skills, problem solving and decision making 
        skills, as well as consideration of cultural and developmental 
        issues, and the role of family, school, and community.
    ``(d) In Addition.--Grants or cooperative agreements awarded under 
this section shall be awarded in addition to any grants awarded under 
section 1904.
    ``(e) Report.--The Director shall review the results of the grants 
or cooperative agreements awarded under this section and other related 
research and identify programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in 
promoting healthy eating behaviors and habits in youth. Such programs 
shall be referred to as ``Programs that Work''. Information about 
Programs that Work, including program curricula, shall be made readily 
available to the public.
    ``(f) Definition.--In this section, the term `healthy eating' means 
having regular eating habits, such as eating 3 meals a day to satisfy 
hunger, eating for nourishment, health, and energy, eating in such a 
manner as to acknowledge internal signals of appetite and satiety, and 
eating in a healthy manner in ordinary social environments to promote 
healthy social relationships with family, peers, and community.
    ``(g) Sunset.--The provisions of this section shall be effective 
for 5 years after the date of enactment of this section.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 
2003, $5,500,000 for fiscal year 2004, $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, 
$6,500,000 for year 2006, and $1,000,000 for year 2007.''.
                                 <all>