111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1585 

AN ACT 

To increase awareness of physical activity opportunities at 

school, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 1585 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fitness Integrated 

3 with Teaching Kids Act’’ or the ‘‘FIT Kids Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Childhood obesity has reached epidemic pro7 portions in the United States. 

8 (2) Researchers estimate that medical costs of 

9 the obesity epidemic may total as much as 

10 $147,000,000,000 annually. 

11 (3) The prevalence of overweight in children be12 tween the ages of 6 and 11 years increased from 4.0 

13 percent between 1971 to 1974 to 17.5 percent be14 tween 2001 to 2004, and the prevalence of over15 weight in adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 

16 years increased from 6.1 percent to 17.0 percent. 

17 (4) Recent studies indicating that 17 percent of 

18 6 to 11 year-olds and 17.6 percent of 12 to 19 year19 olds are considered obese. Furthermore, 33 percent 

20 of 6 to 11 year-olds and 34 percent of 12 to 19 

21 year-olds are overweight; these rates have roughly 

22 doubled since 1980. 

23 (5) Of all United States deaths from major 

24 chronic disease, 23 percent are linked to sedentary 

25 lifestyles that now begin at childhood. 
3 

•HR 1585 EH

1 (6) Overweight adolescents have a 70 to 80 per2 cent chance of becoming overweight adults, increas3 ing their risk for chronic disease, disability, and 

4 death. 

5 (7) A decline in physical activity has contrib6 uted to the unprecedented epidemic of childhood 

7 obesity. 

8 (8) The Physical Activity Guidelines for Ameri9 cans published by the Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services recommend that children engage in 

11 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. 

12 (9) In a 2005 Government Accountability Office 

13 report on key strategies to include in programs de14 signed to target childhood obesity, ‘‘increasing phys15 ical activity’’ was identified as the most important 

16 component in any such program. 

17 (10) Part of the decline in physical activity has 

18 been in our Nation’s schools, where physical edu19 cation programs have been cut back in the past 2 

20 decades. 

21 (11) The national standard for physical edu22 cation frequency, as outlined in the Physical Activity 

23 Guidelines for Americans, is 150 minutes per week 

24 in elementary school and 225 minutes per week in 

25 middle school and high school. 
4 

•HR 1585 EH

1 (12) Only 3.8 percent of elementary schools, 

2 7.9 percent of middle schools, and 2.1 percent of 

3 high schools provide daily physical education or its 

4 equivalent for the entire school year, and 22 percent 

5 of schools do not require students to take any phys6 ical education at all. 

7 (13) Among children ages 9 to 13, 61.5 percent 

8 do not participate in any organized physical activity 

9 during out-of-school hours. 

10 (14) Regular physical activity is associated with 

11 a healthier, longer life and a lower risk of cardio12 vascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obe13 sity, and some cancers. 

14 (15) Research suggests a strong correlation be15 tween children’s fitness and their academic perform16 ance as measured by grades in core subjects and 

17 standardized test scores. 

18 (16) Approximately 81 percent of adults believe 

19 daily physical education should be mandatory in 

20 schools. 

21 SEC. 3. INCREASING AWARENESS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 

22 OPPORTUNITIES AT SCHOOL. 

23 (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Not later 

24 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

25 and annually thereafter, each local educational agency lo-
5 

•HR 1585 EH

1 cated in a State receiving funds under part A of title I 

2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) shall— 

4 (1) post on its Internet website, or otherwise 

5 make available to parents and families of students 

6 served by the agency, information on healthful eat7 ing habits, physical education, and physical activity, 

8 including information on— 

9 (A) the importance of a healthy lifestyle 

10 (including healthful eating habits, physical edu11 cation, and physical activity) for an effective 

12 learning environment; 

13 (B) how schools served by the agency are 

14 promoting healthy lifestyles, including informa15 tion on applicable elementary school and sec16 ondary school programs and policies regarding 

17 nutrition, physical education, and physical ac18 tivity (including coordinated school health plans 

19 or local wellness policies, as applicable); 

20 (C) whether the schools served by the 

21 agency follow an age-appropriate physical edu22 cation curriculum for all elementary school and 

23 secondary school students enrolled in the 

24 schools that adheres to national guidelines 

25 adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and 
6 

•HR 1585 EH

1 Prevention of the Department of Health and 

2 Human Services or the State in which the 

3 school is located; 

4 (D) the most recent national recommenda5 tions for physical education and physical activ6 ity for elementary school and secondary school 

7 students, as established by the Centers for Dis8 ease Control and Prevention of the Department 

9 of Health and Human Services; and 

10 (E) a description of the amount of time 

11 that students in kindergarten through grade 12 

12 served by the agency are required to spend in 

13 physical education, disaggregated by grade 

14 level, including information on criteria for 

15 granting students a waiver or exemption, or al16 lowing a substitution for the requirement; and 

17 (2) assist each school served by the agency in 

18 collecting and disseminating (such as through the 

19 Internet website of the school) to parents and fami20 lies of students enrolled in the school, information 

21 on— 

22 (A) whether the school follows an age-ap23 propriate physical education curriculum for all 

24 students enrolled in the school that adheres to 

25 national guidelines adopted by the Centers for 
7 

•HR 1585 EH

1 Disease Control and Prevention of Health and 

2 Human Services or the State in which the 

3 school is located; 

4 (B) the most recent national recommenda5 tions for physical education and physical activ6 ity for elementary school and secondary school 

7 students, as established by the Centers for Dis8 ease Control and Prevention of the Department 

9 of Health and Human Services; 

10 (C) the requirements described in para11 graph (1)(E); 

12 (D) a description of the facilities available 

13 for physical education and physical activity for 

14 students enrolled in the school; and 

15 (E) if applicable, any health and wellness 

16 council (such as a school health council or local 

17 wellness policy council) located in the school or 

18 that the school is involved with, including infor19 mation on— 

20 (i) members; 

21 (ii) membership criteria; 

22 (iii) opportunities for parental involve23 ment; and 

24 (iv) meeting dates and agendas. 

25 (b) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 
8 

•HR 1585 EH

1 (1) SUBMISSION; INFORMATION AVAIL2 ABILITY.—Not later than 15 days after a local edu3 cational agency described in subsection (a) posts on 

4 its Internet website the information described in 

5 subsection (a)(1)(E), and annually thereafter, the 

6 local educational agency shall provide to the applica7 ble State educational agency the information de8 scribed in such subsection. 

9 (2) ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF THE STATE EDU10 CATIONAL AGENCY.—A State educational agency 

11 that receives information under paragraph (1) shall 

12 ensure that the information is made available to the 

13 general public within a reasonable period of time, 

14 such as through the Internet website of the State 

15 educational agency. 

16 SEC. 4. STUDIES ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND FITNESS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STUDY.—Subject 

18 to the availability of funds appropriated to carry out this 

19 subsection, the Secretary of Education shall enter into a 

20 contract with the National Research Council of the Na21 tional Academy of Sciences to— 

22 (1) examine and make recommendations re23 garding— 

24 (A) various means that may be employed 

25 to incorporate physical activity into elementary 
9 

•HR 1585 EH

1 school and secondary school settings, and 

2 before- and after-school programs; 

3 (B) innovative and effective ways to in4 crease physical activity for all students in kin5 dergarten through grade 12; and 

6 (C) efforts to encourage the participation 

7 of students with disabilities in physical edu8 cation programs and the types of accommoda9 tions used to increase the participation of such 

10 students; 

11 (2) study the impact of health, level of physical 

12 activity, and amount of physical education on stu13 dents’ ability to learn and maximize performance in 

14 school; and 

15 (3) study and provide specific recommendations 

16 for effectively measuring the progress students, at 

17 the elementary school and secondary school level, in 

18 increasing physical activity and improving their 

19 health and well-being, including improving their— 

20 (A) knowledge, awareness, and behavior, 

21 related to nutrition and physical activity; 

22 (B) cognitive development, and fitness, 

23 with physical education; 

24 (C) knowledge of lifetime physical activity 

25 and health promotion; and 
10 

•HR 1585 EH

1 (D) performance on overall health indica2 tors, including flexibility, endurance, strength, 

3 balance, and blood pressure. 

4 (b) NATIONAL FITNESS STUDY.—Subject to the 

5 availability of funds to carry out this subsection, the Sec6 retary of Education shall conduct a study on the participa7 tion of students in physical education and other physical 

8 activities in public elementary schools and public sec9 ondary schools that— 

10 (1) examines student participation in exercise 

11 (including sports and active games), including the 

12 types, frequency, duration, and seasonality of exer13 cise participation, through— 

14 (A) school physical education classes; 

15 (B) other school programs; and 

16 (C) intramural activities; and 

17 (2) assesses student physical activity and fit18 ness levels. 

19 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

21 necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2011. 

22 SEC. 5. DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu25 cation shall identify and make available to State edu-
11 

•HR 1585 EH

1 cational agencies and local educational agencies, best prac2 tices on innovative physical education and physical activity 

3 policies and programs at the State and local level, includ4 ing best practices that— 

5 (1) identify and address common challenges to 

6 States and local educational agencies in imple7 menting physical education and physical activity 

8 policies and programs, including barriers for meeting 

9 national recommendations for physical education and 

10 physical activity in schools, as established by the 

11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the 

12 Department of Health and Human Services; and 

13 (2) meet or are working toward meeting the na14 tional recommendations for physical education and 

15 physical activity in schools, as established by the 

16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the 

17 Department of Health and Human Services. 

18 (b) UPDATING BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary 

19 shall update the best practices described in subsection (a) 

20 after completion of the study carried out under section 

21 4(a). 

22 SEC. 6. PROMOTING THE HEALTHIERUS SCHOOL CHAL23 LENGE. 

24 The Secretary of Education, in collaboration with the 

25 Secretary of Agriculture, shall encourage schools to par-
12 

•HR 1585 EH

1 ticipate in the HealthierUS School Challenge of the Food 

2 and Nutrition Service of the Department of Agriculture. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Except as otherwise provided, any term used in this 

5 Act that is defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall 

7 have the meaning given the term in such section. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 21, 2010. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1585 

AN ACT 

To increase awareness of physical activity 

opportunities at school, and for other purposes.