I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4604 

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 

APRIL 24, 2012 

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 ‘‘Lifelong Improvements 

5 in Food and Exercise Act’’ or the ‘‘LIFE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) Currently, 64.5 percent of adults, age 20 

2 years and older, are either overweight or obese and 

3 35.7 million (more than one-third of the adult popu4 lation) are obese. 

5 (2) Among adults who were 20 to 74 years of 

6 age, the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 

7 percent in 1976 through 1980 to 32.9 percent in 

8 2003 through 2004. 

9 (3) During 2003 through 2004, of children and 

10 adolescents who were 2 to 19 years of age, more 

11 than 12,500,000 (or 17.1 percent) were overweight. 

12 (4) Since 1980, the percentage of children who 

13 are obese has more than doubled and the percentage 

14 of adolescents who are obese has more than tripled. 

15 (5) More than one-third of adults do not get 

16 enough physical activity and adults have increased 

17 their caloric consumption. 

18 (6) The rising rates of obesity portend greater 

19 disease and health conditions, including hyper20 tension, high total cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coro21 nary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, 

22 osteoporosis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and 

23 some cancers, such as endometrial, breast, and 

24 colon. 


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1 (7) Many underlying factors have been linked to 

2 the increase in obesity, such as increased portion 

3 sizes; eating out more often; increased consumption 

4 of sugar-sweetened drinks; increased television, com5 puter, and electronic gaming time; changed labor 

6 markets; and fear of crime, which prevents outdoor 

7 exercise. 

8 (8) Chronic diseases account for 70 percent of 

9 all deaths each year. Although chronic diseases are 

10 among the most common and costly health problems, 

11 they are also among the most preventable. Adopting 

12 a healthy lifestyle, such as eating nutritious foods 

13 and engaging in physical activity, can prevent or 

14 control the devastating effects of these diseases. 

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

16 obesity for adults were estimated to be as high as 

17 $147 billion. People who were obese had medical 

18 costs that were on average $1,429 greater than such 

19 costs for people of normal body weight. 

20 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OBESITY; PRO21 GRAM FOR LIFELONG IMPROVEMENTS IN 

22 FOOD AND EXERCISE. 

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

24 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec25 tion 317T the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OBESITY. 

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

3 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre4 vention, shall carry out a national program to conduct and 

5 support activities regarding individuals who are over6 weight or obese in order to make progress toward the goal 

7 of significantly reducing the number of cases of overweight 

8 and obesity among individuals in the United States. 

9 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub10 section (a), the Secretary shall (directly or through grants 

11 or contracts) carry out the following with respect to indi12 viduals who are overweight: 

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

14 recognize that patients are overweight and to rec15 ommend prevention activities regarding such condi16 tion, including educating patients on the relationship 

17 between such condition and cardiovascular disease, 

18 diabetes and other health conditions, and on proper 

19 nutrition and regular physical activities. 

20 ‘‘(2) Activities to educate the public with re21 spect to the condition of being overweight, including 

22 the development of a strategy for a public awareness 

23 campaign. 

24 ‘‘(3) The development and demonstration of 

25 intervention strategies for use at worksites and in 


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1 community settings such as hospitals and commu2 nity health centers. 

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

4 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

5 to be appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, and 

6 such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 

7 2014 through 2016.’’. 

Æ 


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