[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                      NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK

  (Mrs. CAPPS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to remind my colleagues that this 
week, April 3-9 is National Public Health Week.
  I want to thank the efforts of the American Public Health Association 
and its 200-plus partners who have organized events around the Nation 
that serve to raise everyone's awareness of the need to improve public 
health.
  This year, the theme of National Public Health Week is, ``Designing 
Healthy Communities, Raising Healthy Kids.''
  Mr. Speaker, less than 10 percent of our Nation's children walk or 
ride their bicycles to school, and too many schools continue to invite 
fast-food vendors into their cafeterias.
  In America today, the percentage of children and adolescents who are 
defined as overweight is more than double what it was in the early 
1970s.
  My experience as a school nurse taught me that we need to make a 
concerted effort, all of us, to increase physical fitness activity 
among our children and to encourage all Americans to adopt a healthier 
diet that includes fruits and vegetables, but there is more.
  If we are going to be successful in designing healthy communities and 
raising healthy kids, we must make sure this message is heard the 
entire year and not just for 1 week.
  I urge my colleagues to support this and other efforts to promote 
children's health.

                          ____________________