Short title

This Act may be cited as the Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise (LIFE) Act.

Findings

The Congress finds as follows: (1)Currently, 64.5 percent of adults in the United States, age 20 years and older, are overweight and 30.5 percent of them are obese. (2)Data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys show that among adults aged 20–74 years the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 percent in the 1976–1980 survey to 32.9 percent in the 2003–2004 survey. (3)50 percent of women aged 20 to 74 are overweight or obese in the United States according to the National Women’s Health Information Center. (4)In 2003–04, of children and adolescents 2–19 years of age more than 12,500,000 (or 17.1 percent) were overweight, and of adults more than 66,000,000 (or 32.2 percent) were obese. Almost 5 percent of adults were extremely obese. (5)The percentage of children who are overweight has more than doubled, and among adolescents the rates have more than tripled, since 1980 increasing from 5 percent to 17.1 percent. (6)More than 50 percent of adults in the United States do not get enough physical activity and national data have shown an increase in the calorie consumption of adults. (7)About two-thirds of young people in grades 9–12 are not engaged in recommended levels of physical activity. Daily participation in high school physical education classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2005. (8)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, and respiratory problems, and some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and colon cancer. (9)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. (10)Chronic diseases account for 1.7 million, 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. Although chronic diseases are among the most common and costly health problems, they are also among the most preventable. (11)According to the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, the cost of obesity in the United States in 2000 was more than $117 billion.

Reduction in prevalence of obesity; program for lifelong improvements in food and exercise

Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 317S the following section:

317T.

Reduction in prevalence of 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 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: (1)Activities to train health professionals to recognize that patients are overweight and to recommend prevention activities regarding such condition, including educating patients on the relationship between such condition and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other health conditions, and on proper nutrition and regular physical activities. (2)Activities to educate the public with respect to the condition of being overweight, 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 $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2013.