II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5086 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect children’s health 

by denying any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at 

children to promote the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2022 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect 

children’s health by denying any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at children to promote 

the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality. 

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 ‘‘Stop Subsidizing 

5 Childhood Obesity Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STOP SUBSIDIZING CHILDHOOD OBESITY. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Childhood obesity has more than doubled in 

2 children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 

years. Currently, more than 1 3 ⁄3 of children and ado4 lescents in the United States are overweight or 

5 obese, and non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic youth 

6 have higher rates of obesity. 

7 (2) A report by the Robert Wood Johnson 

8 Foundation found that if current trends continue, 

9 more than half of today’s children will be obese by 

10 age 35. 

11 (3) Health-related behaviors, such as eating 

12 habits and physical activity patterns, develop early 

13 in life and often extend into adulthood. Overall, 

14 American children and youth are not achieving basic 

15 nutritional goals. The diets of American children 

16 and adolescents depart substantially from the Die17 tary Guidelines for Americans and put their health 

18 at risk. They are consuming excess calories and 

19 added sugars and have higher than recommended in20 takes of sodium, total fat, and saturated fats. 

21 (4) According to a 2012 report from the Fed22 eral Trade Commission, the total amount spent on 

23 food marketing to children is about $1,800,000,000 

24 per year. 


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1 (5) Companies market food to children through 

2 television, radio, internet, magazines, product place3 ment in movies and video games, schools, product 

4 packages, toys, clothing and other merchandise, and 

5 almost anywhere a logo or product image can be dis6 played. 

7 (6) According to a comprehensive review by the 

8 National Academy of Medicine, television food adver9 tising affects children’s food choices, food purchase 

10 requests, diets, and health. 

11 (7) A 2006 report from the National Academy 

12 of Medicine confirmed that marketing high-calorie 

13 foods to children and adolescents is one of the major 

14 contributors to childhood obesity. 

15 (8) Nearly all of foods advertised on television 

16 programming intended for children are for products 

17 high in recommended nutrients to limit, as deter18 mined by the Federal Interagency Working Group, 

19 including saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, and so20 dium. 

21 (9) Food and beverage companies dispropor22 tionately target advertising for many of their least 

23 nutritious brands to Black and Hispanic youth, 

24 which contributes to health disparities. Black chil25 dren and teens view almost twice as many ads for 


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1 candy, sugary drinks, and snacks on television compared with White youth, and 2 2 ⁄3 of the food ads on 

3 Spanish-language television promote fast food, 

4 candy, sugary drinks, and snacks. Black children 

5 and teens viewed 70 percent more food-related TV 

6 ads, and 90 percent more ads for snacks and sugary 

7 drinks, as compared to their White peers. 

8 (10) A 2015 study published in the American 

9 Journal of Preventative Medicine found that elimi10 nating the tax deduction for these expenses related 

11 only to television could reduce childhood obesity and 

12 save about $350,000,000 in healthcare costs over 10 

13 years. 

14 (b) DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR ADVERTISING AND

15 MARKETING DIRECTED AT CHILDREN TO PROMOTE THE

16 CONSUMPTION OF FOOD OF POOR NUTRITIONAL QUAL17 ITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part IX of subchapter B of 

19 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new sec21 tion: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 280I. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR ADVERTISING AND 

2 MARKETING DIRECTED AT CHILDREN TO 

3 PROMOTE THE CONSUMPTION OF FOOD OF 

4 POOR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be allowed 

6 under this chapter with respect to— 

7 ‘‘(1) any advertisement or marketing— 

8 ‘‘(A) primarily directed at children for pur9 poses of promoting the consumption by children 

10 of any food of poor nutritional quality, or 

11 ‘‘(B) of a brand primarily associated with 

12 food of poor nutritional quality that is primarily 

13 directed at children, and 

14 ‘‘(2) any of the following which are incurred or 

15 provided primarily for purposes described in para16 graph (1): 

17 ‘‘(A) Travel expenses (including meals and 

18 lodging). 

19 ‘‘(B) Goods or services of a type generally 

20 considered to constitute entertainment, amuse21 ment, or recreation or the use of a facility in 

22 connection with providing such goods and serv23 ices. 

24 ‘‘(C) Gifts. 

25 ‘‘(D) Other promotion expenses. 

26 ‘‘(b) NAM STUDY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

3 Secretary shall enter into a contract with the Na4 tional Academy of Medicine under which the Na5 tional Academy of Medicine shall develop procedures 

6 for the evaluation and identification of— 

7 ‘‘(A) food of poor nutritional quality, and 

8 ‘‘(B) brands that are primarily associated 

9 with food of poor nutritional quality. 

10 ‘‘(2) NAM REPORT.—Not later than 12 months 

11 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

12 National Academy of Medicine shall submit to the 

13 Secretary a report that establishes the proposed pro14 cedures described in paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) BRAND.—The term ‘brand’ means a cor17 porate or product name, a business image, or a 

18 mark, regardless of whether it may legally qualify as 

19 a trademark, used by a seller or manufacturer to 

20 identify goods or services and to distinguish them 

21 from the goods of a competitor. 

22 ‘‘(2) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi23 vidual who is age 14 or under. 

24 ‘‘(3) FOOD.—The term ‘food’ shall include bev25 erages, candy, and chewing gum. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 

2 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, 

3 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

4 Services and the Federal Trade Commission and based on 

5 the report prepared by the National Academy of Medicine 

6 pursuant to subsection (b)(2), shall promulgate such regu7 lations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of 

8 this section, including regulations defining the terms ‘mar9 keting’, ‘directed at children’, ‘food of poor nutritional 

10 quality’, and ‘brand primarily associated with food of poor 

11 nutritional quality’ for purposes of this section.’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions for such part IX is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 280I. Denial of deduction for advertising and marketing directed at children to promote the consumption of food of poor nutritional 

quality.’’. 

15 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

16 by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in17 curred in taxable years beginning 24 months after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (c) ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE FRESH FRUIT

20 AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM.—In addition to any other 

21 amounts made available to carry out the Fresh Fruit and 

22 Vegetable Program under section 19 of the Richard B. 

23 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a), the 

24 Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 


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1 shall, on an annual basis, transfer to such program, from 

2 amounts in the general fund of the Treasury of the United 

3 States, an amount determined by the Secretary of the 

4 Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) to be equal to the 

5 increase in revenue for the preceding 12-month period by 

6 reason of the amendments made by subsection (b). 

Æ 


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