[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3207 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3207

   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

                             July 23, 2015

  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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Healthier Lifelong 
Improvements in Food and Exercise Act of 2015'' or the ``LIFE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Currently, 69 percent of adults in the United States 
        are overweight and 78.6 million (more than one-third of the 
        adult population in the United States) are obese.
            (2) Data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination 
        Surveys show that, the prevalence of obesity among adults 
        increased from 15.0 percent in 1976-1980 to 35.3 percent in 
        2011-2012.
            (3) In 2011-2012, more than 12,700,000 children and 
        adolescents (or 17 percent) were overweight, and more than 
        78,600,000 adults (or 34.9 percent) were obese. Almost 6 
        percent of adults were extremely obese.
            (4) The percentage of children who are obese has more than 
        doubled and among adolescents the percentage has more than 
        tripled. Since 1980, the obesity rate for adolescents increased 
        from 5 percent to 17 percent.
            (5) Approximately 48 percent of adults in the United States 
        do not meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 
        Physical Activity Guidelines, and national data show an 
        increase in the calorie consumption of adults.
            (6) 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, respiratory 
        problems, and some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and 
        colon cancer.
            (7) 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.
            (8) 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.
            (9) In 2008, overall medical costs related to obesity for 
        United States adults were estimated to be as high as $147 
        billion. People who were obese had medical costs that were on 
        average $1,429 higher than the cost for people of normal body 
        weight.

SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY.

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

``SEC. 317U. 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 or obese:
            ``(1) Activities to train health professionals to recognize 
        that patients are overweight or obese and to recommend 
        prevention activities regarding such condition, including 
        educating patients on--
                    ``(A) the relationship between such condition and 
                cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health 
                conditions; and
                    ``(B) the benefits of proper nutrition and regular 
                physical activities.
            ``(2) Activities to educate the public with respect to the 
        condition of being overweight or obese, 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 $25,000,000 
for fiscal year 2016, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
fiscal years 2017 and 2018.''.
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