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News Alerts
April 18, 2005 -- Congress Asked to Legislate
on Child Obesity
In the most
comprehensive childhood obesity legislation proposed so far, Senator
Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced a bill April 15 that would “make
the current epidemic a national public health priority” by:
- Appointing
a federal commission on food policies to promote good nutrition;
- Making grants
to states to implement anti-obesity plans, including curricula
and training for educators and obesity prevention activities in
preschool, school, and after-school programs, and
- Convening a
summit conference of representatives from education, industry,
and health care to set physical activity guidelines.
The bill
calls for virtually all federal agencies to get involved in the
anti-obesity push, including the Department of Education, which
could require local education agencies that receive federal funds
to ban vending machines that sell foods of poor or minimal nutritional
value in schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
would establish centers to disseminate evidence-based practices
on childhood obesity prevention, and the National Institutes of
Health would give priority to research on prevention of childhood
obesity.
The
bill, S. 799, “Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act”
has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions. The bill’s progress through Congress
can be tracked on http://thomas.loc.gov
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