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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 556

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of providing

information and education to the public on the prevention and treatment

of eating disorders.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

Ms. SLAUGHTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of providing information and education to the public on the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

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 ‘‘Eating Disorders In5 formation and Education Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa,

9 bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, as well
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1 as eating disorders not otherwise defined or yet iden2 tified.

3 (2) Eating disorders primarily affect women

4 and girls, to the point that dieting and body dis5 satisfaction is considered normative behavior even

6 among those considered average or underweight.

7 (3) Many girls begin dieting at a young age and

8 in large numbers, as revealed in one study where 80

9 percent of girls reported they had already been on

10 a diet to lose weight before age 13.

11 (4) Dieting at an early age can interfere with

12 normal physiological development and can lead to se13 rious eating disorders, which can result in cardiac

14 impairments, depression, substance abuse,

15 osteoporosis, infertility, amneorrhea, anemia, and

16 other medical conditions.

17 (5) Eating disorders can lead to death, with the

18 National Institute of Mental Health reporting that 1

19 in 10 people with anorexia nervosa die of starvation,

20 cardiac arrest, or other medical complications.

21 (6) There are effective treatments for some eat22 ing disorders, although medical authorities are un23 certain to what extent these disorders are caused by

24 physiological factors, by psychosocial factors, or by

25 both.
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1 SEC. 3. PUBLIC INFORMATION AND EDUCATION ON EATING

2 DISORDERS.

3 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by

5 adding at the end the following section:

6 ‘‘EATING DISORDERS

7 ‘‘SEC. 520C. (a) INFORMATION AND EDUCATION.—

8 The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Center

9 for Mental Health Services, shall carry out a program to

10 provide information and education to the public on the

11 prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

12 ‘‘(b) TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS.—

13 In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide

14 for the operation of toll-free telephone communications to

15 provide information to the public on eating disorders, in16 cluding referrals for services for the prevention and treat17 ment of such disorders. Such communications shall be

18 available on a 24-hour, 7-day basis.

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

20 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

21 to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and

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

23 1999 and 2000.’’.

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