119-hr5224

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5224 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5224

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote healthy eating and 
 physical activity among children.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 9, 2025

 Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote healthy eating and 
 physical activity among children.

 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 ``Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress makes the following findings:

    (1) The COVID-19 pandemic has had serious impacts on the 
 health and well-being of children and families.

    (2) Unemployment and poverty, as well as lengthy business, 
 school, and childcare closures, have all contributed to 
 elevated levels of food insecurity, with an estimated 
 14,000,000 children in the United States not getting enough to 
 eat.

    (3) Millions of children receive free or reduced-price 
 meals through early childhood education programs, including 
 school and early care and education programs such as childcare, 
 Head Start, pre-kindergarten, and family childcare, making 
 early childhood education an important setting for addressing 
 food insecurity.

    (4) More than 30,000,000 children receive free or reduced-
 price meals on a daily basis, and access to both breakfast and 
 lunch can provide some children with more than half of their 
 daily caloric intake.

    (5) Due to financial instability during the COVID-19 
 pandemic, there is an increased likelihood of unhealthy weight 
 gain among children as families shift to less costly, 
 calorically dense, shelf-stable foods, rather than fresh foods.

    (6) Research has shown that early childhood is an important 
 time for developing dietary and physical activity behaviors 
 that support health and well-being and that may help prevent 
 obesity.

    (7) Children who are exposed to healthy foods early are 
 more likely develop eating habits that promote healthy growth 
 that can continue throughout childhood, and healthy eating can 
 improve a child's learning ability, potentially lead to higher 
 academic performance, improve mental, social, and physical 
 well-being, and contribute to increased self-esteem.

    (8) Research underscores the importance of physical 
 activity in early childhood. It is not only essential for 
 healthy weight maintenance, but also for practicing and 
 learning fundamental gross motor skills and improving academic 
 achievement. Furthermore, when children have the opportunity 
 for adequate physical activity, they benefit physically, 
 psychologically and socially.

    (9) Nearly 20 percent (1 in 5) of 2-year-olds spend more 
 than 2 hours of a typical day watching television or videos, 
 and the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics 
 found that each incremental hour of watching television at age 
 2 is associated with corresponding declines in school 
 engagement, math achievement, and weekend physical activity, 
 and with increases in bullying by classmates, consumption of 
 soft drinks and snacks, and body mass index at age 10.

    (10) A study published in the New England Journal of 
 Medicine in 2014 found that a third of children overweight in 
 kindergarten had obesity by the eighth grade. Almost every 
 child with severe obesity remained that way, suggesting that 
 efforts must start much earlier and focus more on the children 
 at greatest risk.

    (11) A study published in the New England Journal of 
 Medicine in 2017 estimates that over 50 percent of 2-year-olds 
 today will be obese by 35 years of age.

    (12) A study examining the National Health and Nutrition 
 Examination Survey published in 2018 found an increase in 
 prevalence of childhood obesity in 2015 and 2016. Childhood 
 obesity for children between 2 and 5 years of age increased 
 from 9 percent to 14 percent, the highest increase since 1999.

    (13) In 2016, about 82 percent of United States preschool-
 aged children were in childcare, and most of their day was 
 spent in sedentary activities.

    (14) Early care and education centers serve approximately 
 7,500,000 children birth through age 5 years but not yet in 
 kindergarten, making the early childhood care and education 
 setting an important one for promoting healthful habits.

    (15) More than 122,000 children in 12 States have 
 benefitted from efforts to support healthier early care and 
 education programs. This includes the provision of training and 
 coaching for childcare providers and technical assistance to 
 State agencies to integrate nutrition and physical activity 
 best practices into existing State and local systems.

    (b) 

=== Purposes ===
-The purposes of this Act are to--

    (1) establish a program that will enhance the training and 
 knowledge of early care and education providers and influence 
 practices, policies, and environments in early care and 
 education settings to support healthy eating and physical 
 activity for children ages birth through 5, including by 
 addressing the growing threat of food insecurity;

    (2) provide support to States on ways to link early care 
 and education programs to nutrition supports;

    (3) monitor progress of healthy eating and physical 
 activity promotion in early care and education settings; and

    (4) identify emerging, and expand existing, approaches to 
 engaging families and parents of children ages birth to 5 in 
 healthy eating and physical activity.

SEC. 3. HEALTHY KIDS PROGRAM.

 Part Q of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
280h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``

SEC. 399Z-3. HEALTHY KIDS GRANT PROGRAM.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this 
section as the `Secretary') and in coordination with the Assistant 
Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, shall award 
5-year competitive grants to one or more eligible entities--
 ``

    (1) to improve healthy eating and physical activity among 
 children ages birth through 5 years in early care and education 
 settings; and
 ``

    (2) to address food insecurity among such children.
 ``

    (b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection

    (a) , an entity shall be--
 ``

    (1) a nonprofit organization with expertise in early 
 childhood health and childhood obesity prevention;
 ``

    (2) an institution of higher education (as defined in 
 

section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) or research 
 center that employs faculty with relevant expertise and has 
 expertise in training early care and education providers; or
 ``

    (3) a consortium of entities described in paragraphs

    (1) and

    (2) that submit a single application to carry out 
 activities under the grant jointly.
 ``
            (c) Application.--An entity seeking a grant under subsection

    (a) shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
 ``
            (d) Use of Funds.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--An entity shall use amounts received 
 under a grant under this section to work directly with 
 implementing partners, which may include States, territories, 
 Indian Tribes, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations--
 ``
        (A) to create sustainable programs to train early 
 care and education providers through direct coaching 
 and peer-learning, access to quality technical 
 assistance, and professional development opportunities 
 that are focused on healthy eating, physical activity, 
 addressing food insecurity, and other topics that 
 support children's healthy development, as determined 
 by the Secretary;
 ``
        (B) to build State capacity through training, 
 technical assistance, and resources to integrate the 
 promotion of healthy eating and physical activity into 
 existing early care and education programs, systems, 
 and initiatives, including linking early care and 
 education programs to new and existing resources for 
 nutrition supports, with a focus on promoting equity; 
 and
 ``
            (C) to test innovative or evidence-informed 
 approaches to promoting healthy habits and healthy 
 child development in early care and education settings, 
 which may include linking early care and education and 
 health care providers, enhancing early care and 
 education staff wellness, enhancing access to quality 
 foods in the early care and education settings, and 
 engaging families of children ages birth to 5 years 
 served in the early care and education programs 
 supported by a grant under this section.
 ``

    (2) Implementing partners.--In selecting implementing 
 partners under paragraph

    (1) , a recipient of a grant under this 
 section shall ensure that such partners--
 ``
        (A) serve populations that are racially, 
 ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically 
 diverse; and
 ``
        (B) represent a mix of rural and urban settings.
 ``

    (3) National independent evaluator.--From the amounts 
 appropriated to carry out this section, and prior to awarding 
 any grants under paragraph

    (1) , the Secretary shall enter into 
 a contract with an external entity to create a single, uniform 
 process to--
 ``
        (A) ensure that entities that receive grants 
 under paragraph

    (1) comply with the requirements of 
 this section; and
 ``
        (B) evaluate the outcomes of the grant activities 
 carried out by each participating entity.
 ``

    (e) Tracking State Progress.--The Secretary may use amounts 
appropriated under subsection

    (g)

    (2) to enter into contracts with, or 
award grants to, institutions of higher education, nonprofit 
organizations, or other entities with relevant monitoring and 
surveillance expertise, for purposes of--
 ``

    (1) tracking State progress in obesity prevention 
 policies and practices of early care and education programs in 
 States where grantees are present; and
 ``

    (2) measuring changes in food security within exposed 
 groups.
 ``

    (f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the completion of the 
programs and activities (including monitoring and surveillance under 
subsection

    (e) ) funded under grants awarded under this section, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress, and all appropriate Federal 
agencies, a report concerning an evaluation of the results of such 
programs and activities, including best practices, and lessons derived 
from the experiences of grantees, with respect to reducing and 
preventing food insecurity and obesity and overweight among children 
ages birth through 5 years in the early care and education settings.
 ``

    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
 to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
 2026 through 2030.
 ``

    (2) Funding for tracking state progress.--In addition to 
 amounts made available under paragraph

    (1) , there is authorized 
 to be appropriated to carry out subsection

    (e) $1,700,000 for 
 fiscal year 2026.
 ``

    (h) Early Care and Education Defined.--In this section, the term 
`early care and education' means programs and activities that serve 
children ages birth through 5 years either through in-home or out-of-
home settings, including childcare programs, Head Start programs, 
family childcare, and pre-kindergarten programs.''.
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