I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3207 

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 

JULY 23, 2015 

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 2015’’ or the ‘‘LIFE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) Currently, 69 percent of adults in the 

4 United States are overweight and 78.6 million (more 

5 than one-third of the adult population in the United 

6 States) are obese. 

7 (2) Data from two National Health and Nutri8 tion Examination Surveys show that, the prevalence 

9 of obesity among adults increased from 15.0 percent 

10 in 1976–1980 to 35.3 percent in 2011–2012. 

11 (3) In 2011–2012, more than 12,700,000 chil12 dren and adolescents (or 17 percent) were over13 weight, and more than 78,600,000 adults (or 34.9 

14 percent) were obese. Almost 6 percent of adults were 

15 extremely obese. 

16 (4) The percentage of children who are obese 

17 has more than doubled and among adolescents the 

18 percentage has more than tripled. Since 1980, the 

19 obesity rate for adolescents increased from 5 percent 

20 to 17 percent. 

21 (5) Approximately 48 percent of adults in the 

22 United States do not meet the Centers for Disease 

23 Control and Prevention’s Physical Activity Guide24 lines, and national data show an increase in the cal25 orie consumption of adults. 


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1 (6) The rising rates of obesity portend greater 

2 disease and health conditions including hypertension, 

3 high total cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coronary 

4 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 1.7 million, 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 billion. People who were obese 


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1 had medical costs that were on average $1,429 high2 er than the cost for people of normal body weight. 

3 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN PREVALENCE OF OVERWEIGHT AND 

4 OBESITY. 

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

6 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec7 tion 317T the following section: 

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

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

10 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre11 vention, shall carry out a national program to conduct and 

12 support activities regarding individuals who are over13 weight or obese in order to make progress toward the goal 

14 of significantly reducing the number of cases of obesity 

15 among individuals in the United States. 

16 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub17 section (a), the Secretary shall (directly or through grants 

18 or contracts) carry out the following with respect to indi19 viduals who are overweight or obese: 

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

21 recognize that patients are overweight or obese and 

22 to recommend prevention activities regarding such 

23 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 2016, and 

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

18 2017 and 2018.’’. 

Æ 


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