Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 2016

Summary: Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 2016 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration for Children and Families, to award grants to promote healthy eating and physical activity among children under six years old in early care and education settings.    HHS must track the obesity prevention policies and practices of early care and education programs.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Research has shown that early childhood is an important 
        time for developing dietary and physical activity behaviors 
        that support health and well-being and may help prevent 
        obesity.
            (2) Infants as young as 7 months have shown eating patterns 
        that are similar to older children and adults.
            (3) For children under 1 year of age, promoting 
        opportunities for movement (such as reaching, crawling, and 
        creeping) may be the most effective way to increase physical 
        activity and improve children's motor skills.
            (4) Children who are exposed to healthy foods early are 
        more likely to prefer and eat healthy foods and to develop 
        eating habits that promote healthy growth that can continue 
        throughout childhood.
            (5) Healthy eating can improve a child's learning ability 
        and potentially lead to higher academic performance, along with 
        his or her mental, social, and physical well-being and can 
        contribute to increased self-esteem.
            (6) A 2010 study indicated that daily physical activity is 
        not only essential for healthy weight maintenance, but also for 
        practicing and learning fundamental gross motor skills and 
        socioemotional and cognitive skills. Furthermore, when children 
        have the opportunity for adequate physical activity, they 
        benefit physically, psychologically and socially.
            (7) Nearly 20 percent (1 in 5) of 2-year-olds spend more 
        than 2 hours of a typical day watching television or videos.
            (8) 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 BMI at age 10.
            (9) A major study published in the New England Journal of 
        Medicine, found that a third of children who were overweight in 
        kindergarten were obese by eighth grade. Almost every child who 
        was very obese remained that way, suggesting that efforts must 
        start much earlier and focus more on the children at greatest 
        risk.
            (10) In 2012, three-fourths of United States preschool-aged 
        children were in child care, and most of their day was spent in 
        sedentary activities.
            (11) Center-based programs serve approximately 6,980,000 
        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.
            (12) Early care and education learning collaboratives in 9 
        States have reached nearly 156,000 children and improved early 
        childhood care and education provider practices for nutrition 
        and physical activity.
    (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) establish a program that will influence practices, 
        policies, and environments in early care and education settings 
        to support healthy eating, physical activity, and screen time 
        reduction for children ages birth through 5;
            (2) enhance the training and knowledge of early care and 
        education providers on strategies for promoting healthy eating 
        (including early feeding best practices), physical activity, 
        and screen time reduction in early care and education settings;
            (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, physical activity, and screen time reduction.

SEC. 3. HEALTHY KIDS PROGRAM.

    Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 241 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

                     ``PART W--HEALTHY KIDS PROGRAM

``SEC. 399OO. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this part:
            ``(1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
        the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
            ``(2) Early care and education.--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 child care programs, Head Start 
        programs, and pre-kindergarten programs.
            ``(3) Screen time reduction.--The term `screen time 
        reduction' means policies or guidelines designed to reduce the 
        daily amount of time that children spend watching or looking at 
        digital monitors or displays, including television sets, 
        computer monitors, or hand-held gaming devices.

``SEC. 399PP. GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in coordination with the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration for Children 
and Families shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
award 5-year competitive grants to eligible entities to assist in the 
development of healthier early care and education environments to 
improve healthy eating and physical activity among children ages birth 
through 5 years in early care and education settings. Training provided 
under such grants shall be consistent with the best practices from 
existing health and wellness resources endorsed by the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Institute of Medicine, the Administration for 
Children and Families' Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start, 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Nutrition, 
Physical Activity, and Obesity, and the Health Resources and Services 
Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), an entity shall--
            ``(1) be--
                    ``(A) a nonprofit organization with expertise in 
                early childhood health and obesity prevention;
                    ``(B) an institution of higher education or 
                research center that employs faculty with relevant 
                expertise; or
                    ``(C) a consortium of entities described in 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B) that submit a single 
                application to carry out activities under the grant 
                jointly; and
            ``(2) submit to the Director an application at such time, 
        in such manner, and containing such information as the Director 
        may require.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) Identification of areas of opportunities and goals.--
        An entity that receives a grant under this section shall, using 
        Department of Health and Human Services guidance and tools 
        (such as the Spectrum of Opportunities for Obesity Prevention 
        in the Early Care and Education Setting developed by the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), identify areas of 
        opportunity and set goals and carry out activities to promote 
        healthy eating, physical activity, and screen time reduction 
        strategies among children ages birth through 5 years in early 
        care and education settings.
            ``(2) Activities.--An entity shall use amounts received 
        under a grant under this section to carry out each of the 
        following activities:
                    ``(A) Provide training, technical assistance, and 
                resources to implementing partners, which may include 
                States, territories, cities, or nonprofit 
                organizations, to integrate the promotion of healthy 
                eating (including early feeding best practices), 
                physical activity, and screen time reduction into 
                existing early care and education State programs and 
                standards to create and spread sustainable change 
                within the State or territory involved.
                    ``(B) Work directly with implementing partners to 
                create sustainable programs to train early care and 
                education providers through train-the-trainer models, 
                learning collaboratives, or other approaches approved 
                by the Secretary.
                    ``(C) Enter into a contract with a nonprofit 
                organization or other entity with relevant expertise 
                that is approved by the Secretary, to evaluate the 
                programs carried out under the grant, including 
                baseline, process, and outcome measurements.
            ``(3) Dissemination of best practices.--Upon the conclusion 
        of programs and activities carried out under the grants under 
        this section, the Secretary shall disseminate to all 
        appropriate agencies within the Department of Health and Human 
        Services evidence, best practices, and lessons derived from the 
        experiences of grantees with respect to reducing and preventing 
        obesity and overweight among children ages birth through 5 
        years in the early care and education settings. Such agencies 
        shall encourage the adoption of such best practices.
    ``(d) Preference.--
            ``(1) Grantees.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities that--
                    ``(A) have a history of working with early care and 
                education providers and States in obesity prevention in 
                the early care and education setting;
                    ``(B) demonstrate a history of, and capacity to, 
                leverage private dollars to amplify obesity prevention 
                efforts in early care and education settings;
                    ``(C) demonstrate a history of working successfully 
                with an evaluator to determine program effectiveness;
                    ``(D) demonstrate a history of, and capacity to, 
                collaborate with the health sector on obesity 
                prevention initiatives;
                    ``(E) demonstrate a history of, and capacity to, 
                spread and sustain health initiatives; and
                    ``(F) demonstrate the ability to conduct at least 3 
                pilot programs to test innovative or evidence-informed 
                approaches to engage families, including families of 
                children ages birth to 5 years, in the promotion of 
                healthy eating and physical activity.
            ``(2) Implementing partners.--In selecting States, 
        territories, cities, or nonprofit organizations as implementing 
        partners under a grant under this section, a grantee shall 
        ensure that such partners--
                    ``(A) serve populations that are racially, 
                ethnically, and geographically diverse;
                    ``(B) represent a mix of rural and urban settings;
                    ``(C) have a varied level of existing 
                infrastructure, capacity, and other programmatic 
                initiatives to address obesity prevention in early care 
                and education systems; and
                    ``(D) possess expertise in early care and education 
                or children's health and the ability to implement 
                evidence-informed interventions to promote healthy 
                eating, physical activity, and screen time reduction 
                strategies in early care and education settings for 
                children ages birth through 5 years, including 
                strategies targeted to addressing the needs of children 
                ages birth through 2 years and strategies to engage 
                parents in healthy eating and physical activity 
                promotion.
    ``(e) Tracking State Progress.--The Secretary shall 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 that are approved by the Secretary, to track 
State progress in obesity prevention policies and practices of early 
care and education programs through a sentinel set of States.
    ``(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than 12 months after the 
completion of the programs and activities funded under grants awarded 
under this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
concerning an evaluation of the results of such programs and activities 
and sentinel surveillance, including recommendations on how lessons 
learned from such programs can be incorporated into future guidance 
documents developed and provided by the Secretary or Director and other 
Federal agencies as appropriate.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 
        2020, and 2021; and
            ``(2) $1,700,000 for fiscal year 2017, to be used to track 
        State progress in obesity prevention policies and practices of 
        early care and education programs in a sentinel set of States 
        as provided for in subsection (e).''.