I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5683 

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 

JANUARY 27, 2020 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Healthier 

5 Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise Act of 

6 2020’’ or the ‘‘LIFE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) Data from the Centers for Disease Control 

4 and Prevention shows that in 2015–2016 close to 40 

5 percent of adults in the United States were obese 

6 and 71.6 percent of Americans were overweight or 

7 obese. Approximately 7.7 percent of adults were se8 verely obese. 

9 (2) Data from two National Health and Nutri10 tion Examination Surveys shows that the prevalence 

11 of obesity among adults increased from 15.0 percent 

12 in 1976–1980 to 39.8 percent in 2015–2016. 

13 (3) In 2015–2016, the prevalence of obesity 

14 among youth aged 2–19 was 18.5 percent and af15 fected approximately 13,700,000 children and ado16 lescents. 

17 (4) The percentage of children and adolescents 

18 who are obese has increased since 1971–1974, when 

19 the percentage was 5 percent. 

20 (5) In 2018, only 53.3 percent of United States 

21 adults aged 18–64 met the 2008 Federal guidelines 

22 for aerobic activity. The 2008 Federal Physical Ac23 tivity Guidelines for American Adults recommends 

24 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic 

25 physical activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous26 intensity aerobic physical activity. 


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1 (6) The rising rates of obesity portend greater 

2 disease and health conditions, including hyper3 tension, high total cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coro4 nary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, 

5 osteoporosis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and 

6 some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and colon 

7 cancer. 

8 (7) Many underlying factors have been linked to 

9 the increase in obesity, such as increasing portion 

10 sizes, eating out more often, increased consumption 

11 of sugar-sweetened drinks, increasing television, 

12 computer, and electronic gaming time, changing 

13 labor markets, and fear of crime, which prevents 

14 outdoor exercise. 

15 (8) Chronic diseases account for 1,700,000, or 

16 70 percent, of all deaths in the United States each 

17 year. Although chronic diseases are among the most 

18 common and costly health problems, they are also 

19 among the most preventable. Adopting a healthy 

20 lifestyle, such as eating nutritious foods and engag21 ing in physical activity, can prevent or control the 

22 devastating effects of these diseases. 

23 (9) In 2008, overall medical costs related to 

24 obesity for United States adults were estimated to 

25 be as high as $147,000,000,000. People who were 


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1 obese had medical costs that were on average $1,429 

2 higher than the cost for people of normal body 

3 weight. 

4 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND 

5 OBESITY. 

6 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec8 tion 317T the following section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT 

10 AND OBESITY. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

12 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre13 vention, shall carry out a national program to conduct and 

14 support activities regarding individuals who are over15 weight or obese in order to make progress toward the goal 

16 of significantly reducing the number of cases of overweight 

17 and obesity among individuals in the United States. 

18 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub19 section (a), the Secretary shall (directly or through grants 

20 or contracts) carry out the following with respect to indi21 viduals who are overweight or obese: 

22 ‘‘(1) Activities to train health professionals to 

23 recognize that patients are overweight or obese and 

24 to recommend prevention activities regarding such 

25 condition, including educating patients on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the relationship between such condi2 tion and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and 

3 other health conditions; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the benefits of proper nutrition and 

5 regular physical activities. 

6 ‘‘(2) Activities to educate the public with re7 spect to the condition of being overweight or obese, 

8 including the development of a strategy for a public 

9 awareness campaign. 

10 ‘‘(3) The development and demonstration of 

11 intervention strategies for use at worksites and in 

12 community settings such as hospitals and commu13 nity health centers. 

14 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

15 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

16 to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, and 

17 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

18 2022 and 2023.’’. 

Æ 


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