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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2119 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2119

   To establish a pilot program to address overweight/obesity among 
 children from birth to age 5 in child care settings and to encourage 
                          parental engagement.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 16, 2012

Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself, Mr. Carper, Mr. Coons, Mr. Franken, 
 and Mr. Udall of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was 
 read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
                              and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To establish a pilot program to address overweight/obesity among 
 children from birth to age 5 in child care settings and to encourage 
                          parental engagement.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Kids from Day One Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Preschool years are a critical time for determining 
        whether or not an individual will develop obesity later in 
        life.
            (2) The Journal of Clinical Pediatrics reports that the 
        ``tipping point'' in obesity often occurs before 2 years of 
        age, and sometimes as early as 3 months, when the child is 
        learning how much and what to eat.
            (3) Aerobic fitness and healthy eating patterns support 
        enhanced behavioral, emotional, and academic performance in 
        school.
            (4) More than 21 percent of preschool children are 
        overweight or obese.
            (5) A 2009 preschool study found that 89 percent of a 
        preschooler's day is sedentary.
            (6) The amount of time children spend outdoors is dwindling 
        rapidly, as evidenced by studies showing that children enjoy 
        half the outdoor time they did just 20 years ago. Meanwhile, 
        children are spending nearly 8 hours per day in front of 
        electronic media.
            (7) Studies indicate that children who are overweight at 
        age 5 are more likely to be more overweight at age 9.
            (8) Rates of obesity are higher for African-American, 
        Latino, Native American, and Native Alaskan children than the 
        overall population of the children in the United States.
            (9) Children who are obese have a greater likelihood of 
        being obese in adulthood and developing heart disease, 
        diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
            (10) In 2005, 61 percent of children from birth through age 
        6 who were not yet in kindergarten (about 12,000,000 children) 
        received some form of child care on a regular basis from 
        persons other than their parents.
            (11) A 2008 survey by the National Association of Child 
        Care Resource and Referral Agencies reported that 93 percent of 
        parents thought existing health and safety standards for child 
        care should be improved.
            (12) Child care centers, family child care homes, and other 
        early learning environments should serve as settings where 
        children adopt healthy eating habits and have opportunities for 
        age appropriate physical activity.
            (13) Age-appropriate physical activity in the outdoors, in 
        particular, can produce immense physical, mental and emotional 
        health benefits, including addressing childhood obesity, 
        decreasing symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity 
        disorder, improving motor skills, stimulating brain 
        development, increasing creativity and quality sleep, and 
        reducing the risk of developing myopia.
            (14) The governmental, nonprofit, and private sectors came 
        together to launch Let's Move Child Care, a voluntary effort to 
        work with child care providers to help children get off to a 
        healthy start through healthy eating, physical activity, and 
        screen time reduction strategies. Learning collaboratives that 
        build upon these key elements will assist providers and parents 
        in giving children the foundation they need for a healthy life.
    (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) establish a 3-year pilot program in 5 States 
        representing a diversity of rural and urban environments that 
        will support child care collaboratives designed to reduce the 
        prevalence of overweight/obesity among children from birth to 
        age 5 in child care settings through dissemination of available 
        tools and curricula and implementation of emerging best 
        practices;
            (2) enhance the focus of child care centers and family 
        child care homes serving the population of children from birth 
        to age 5 on the healthy development of children through 
        evidence-based or data-informed policies and practices to 
        improve healthy eating, physical activity, and screen time 
        limits; and
            (3) upon completion of the 3-year period, terminate the 
        pilot program and disseminate the best practices and lessons 
        learned from the pilot program through other systems, programs, 
        or partnerships.

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) Child care center.--The term `child care center' 
        means a center licensed or otherwise authorized to provide 
        child care and services for fewer than 24 hours per day per 
        child in a non-residential setting, unless care in excess of 24 
        hours is due to the nature of the parents' work.
            ``(2) Early learning council.--The term `early learning 
        council' means an early childhood assembly that is established 
        to advise governors, State legislators, or State agency 
        administrators on how best to meet the needs of young children 
        and their families specifically through improvement of programs 
        and services.
            ``(3) Family child care home.--The term `family child care 
        home' means a private family home where home-based child care 
        is provided for a portion of the day, unless care in excess of 
        24 hours is due to the nature of the parents' work, and that is 
        certified, registered, or licensed in the State in which it is 
        located.
            ``(4) Screen time limits.--The term `screen time limits' 
        means policies or guidelines, such as those developed by the 
        American Academy of Pediatrics, 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.
            ``(5) State.--Notwithstanding section 2(f), the term 
        `State' means--
                    ``(A) each of the several States;
                    ``(B) the District of Columbia;
                    ``(C) an Indian tribe or tribal organization;
                    ``(D) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
                    ``(E) any other territory or possession of the 
                United States.

``SEC. 399OO-1. GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with 
        appropriate entities within the Department of Health and Human 
        Services, shall award 3-year competitive grants to 5 eligible 
        entities to help reduce and prevent obesity among the 
        population of children from birth to age 5 in a State and to 
        encourage parental engagement in child care settings outside a 
        child's place of residence.
            ``(2) Eligible entities.--To be an eligible entity under 
        paragraph (1), an entity shall be--
                    ``(A) a State health department (or other 
                appropriate child care licensing entities within such 
                State); or
                    ``(B) a nonprofit organization or a partnership of 
                nonprofit organizations with expertise in the healthy 
                development of children.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--Grantees shall use amounts received 
        under a grant under this subsection--
                    ``(A)(i) to establish one or more child care 
                collaboratives consisting of the center director and 
                staff members from multiple child care sites and family 
                child care homes;
                    ``(ii) in the case of a State grantee, to contract 
                with a nonprofit organization in the State with 
                expertise in the healthy development of children to 
                establish the collaborative or collaboratives; or
                    ``(iii) to provide funding to an entity that 
                routinely trains child care providers to establish the 
                collaborative or collaboratives; and
                    ``(B) to provide or contract with the organizer of 
                the collaborative or collaboratives to provide--
                            ``(i) technical assistance, including 
                        onsite assistance when appropriate, to the 
                        child care providers participating in the 
                        collaborative;
                            ``(ii) a compilation of best practices, 
                        strategies, and lessons learned from the 
                        collaborative, to be reported annually to the 
                        Secretary; and
                            ``(iii) a plan to ensure that the 
                        collaborative will be sustainable, without 
                        additional Federal funding, upon the conclusion 
                        of the 3-year pilot program.
            ``(2) Collaboratives.--Each collaborative established under 
        clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall share best 
        practices, strategies, and techniques for successfully 
        implementing evidence-based or data-informed policies and 
        practices relating to healthy eating, physical activity, 
        parental engagement, and other topics, such as breastfeeding, 
        relating to the healthy development of children, using 
        available curricula, tools, and other interventions.
            ``(3) Content of plan.--The plan described under paragraph 
        (1)(B)(iii) may include the incorporation of the best 
        practices, strategies, and techniques described in paragraph 
        (2) into the training and professional development for child 
        care providers in the State or other approaches determined 
        appropriate by the State and the Secretary.
    ``(c) Collaborative Training Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--Collaboratives shall incorporate no less 
        than 5 and no more than 10 daylong, interactive training 
        sessions each year and ongoing technical assistance to the 
        child care providers participating in the collaborative that 
        include--
                    ``(A) the provision and discussion of information 
                concerning implementation by the child care providers 
                of age-appropriate healthy eating and physical activity 
                interventions, using available tools and culturally 
                competent curricula for population of children from 
                birth to age 5 in the State involved, which at a 
                minimum shall include--
                            ``(i) a handbook that includes 
                        recommendations, guidelines, and best practices 
                        for child care centers and family child care 
                        homes relating to healthy eating, physical 
                        activity, and screen time reduction;
                            ``(ii) information about the availability 
                        of and services provided by child care health 
                        consultants; and
                            ``(iii) health and wellness resources 
                        available through the Child Care Bureau, the 
                        Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Let's Move 
                        Child Care, and the Food and Nutrition Service 
                        of the Department of Agriculture;
                    ``(B) the identification, improvement upon, and 
                expansion of nutrition and physical activity best 
                practices targeted to the population of children from 
                birth to age 5 in the State involved and the 
                identification of strategies for incorporating parental 
                education and other parental engagement;
                    ``(C) the identification of strategies and 
                techniques for overcoming barriers to healthy eating, 
                physical activity, and parental engagement; and
                    ``(D) the provision of instruction and discussion 
                of techniques used to appropriately model, direct, and 
                encourage child care staff behavior to apply the best 
                practices and strategies identified under subparagraphs 
                (B) and (C).
    ``(d) Practice, Curricula, and Policy Changes.--A grantee shall 
ensure that the participants involved in the collaborative, on an 
ongoing basis--
            ``(1) implement policy changes that promote healthy eating, 
        physical activity, and appropriate screen time limits among the 
        population of children from birth to age 5;
            ``(2) utilize a culturally competent healthy eating and 
        physical activity curriculum focusing on such population of 
        children from birth to age 5;
            ``(3) implement programs, activities, and procedures for 
        incorporating parental education and engagement of parents in 
        programs; and
            ``(4) implement innovative ways to remove barriers that 
        exist to providing opportunities for healthy eating and 
        physical activity.
All activities described in this subsection shall be evidence-based and 
data-informed and be consistent with the curriculum presented through 
training activities described in subsection (c).

``SEC. 399OO-2. GRANTS FOR THE EVALUATION OF PILOT PROGRAMS.

    ``The Secretary shall award competitive grants to Prevention 
Research Centers, universities, or other appropriate entities to 
evaluate the programs carried out with grants under section 399OO-1, 
including baseline, process, and outcome measurements.

``SEC. 399OO-3. COORDINATION.

    ``(a) Interagency Coordination.--To the extent practicable, the 
Secretary shall coordinate activities conducted under this part with 
activities undertaken by the National Prevention, Health Promotion and 
Public Health Council established under section 4001 of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act.
    ``(b) Pilot Coordination.--The Secretary shall designate an entity 
(directly or through contract) to provide technical assistance to 
States and pilot centers in the coordination of activities as described 
in subsection (a).

``SEC. 399OO-4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, EVALUATION, AND REPORTING.

    ``(a) Technical Assistance and Information.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) provide technical assistance to grantees and other 
        entities providing training under a grant under section 399OO-
        1; and
            ``(2) disseminate to grantees information concerning 
        evidence-based or data-informed approaches, including 
        dissemination of available tools, curricula, and available or 
        emerging best practices that can be expanded or improved upon 
        through the pilot program conducted under section 399OO-1.
    ``(b) Evaluation Requirements.--With respect to evaluations 
conducted under section 399OO-2, the Secretary shall ensure that--
            ``(1) evaluation metrics are consistent across all programs 
        funded under this part;
            ``(2) interim outcomes are measured by the number of 
        centers that adopt policies to increase healthy eating and 
        physical activity and reduce screen time;
            ``(3) interim outcomes are measured, to the extent 
        practicable, by changes in foods served, opportunities for 
        physical activity, and screen time in the child care 
        participants in the collaboratives established under section 
        399OO-1; and
            ``(4) upon completion of the pilot program under section 
        399OO-1, the evaluation shall include an identification of 
        policies, best practices, and strategies to improve healthy 
        eating, physical activity, screen time limits, and parental 
        engagement that could be replicated in other child care 
        settings.
    ``(c) Dissemination of Information.--Upon the conclusion of the 
pilot program under section 399OO-1, the Secretary shall disseminate to 
all appropriate agencies within the Department of Health and Human 
Services evidence, strategies, best practices, and lessons learned from 
grantees. Such agencies shall encourage the utilization of best 
practices through Federal programs and other appropriate methods.
    ``(d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 180 days after the 
completion of the pilot program under section 399OO-1, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report concerning the evaluation of the 
pilot program, including recommendations as to how lessons learned from 
such programs can be incorporated into future guidance documents 
developed and provided by the Secretary and other Federal agencies, as 
well as Federal programs, as appropriate.

``SEC. 399OO-5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part, 
$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014.''.
                                 <all>
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