I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3197 

To direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants to local educational 

agencies to conduct demonstration projects to screen the blood pressure 

of children in kindergarten through grade 6. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 14, 2009 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to provide grants to 

local educational agencies to conduct demonstration 

projects to screen the blood pressure of children in kindergarten through grade 6. 

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 ‘‘Kids With Healthy 

5 Hearts Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR HYPERTENSION 

2 SCREENING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

4 provide a total of 5 grants to local educational agencies 

5 (as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) to con7 duct demonstration projects to screen the blood pressure 

8 of children in kindergarten through grade 6 to identify 

9 those children with hypertension or early signs of hyper10 tension. 

11 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—To receive a grant for a dem12 onstration project under this section, an applicant shall 

13 certify to the Secretary the following: 

14 (1) The screening program will be voluntary. 

15 (2) Subject to parental permission, children 

16 participating in the program shall be screened every 

17 6 months during the academic year under the super18 vision of a licensed school nurse. 

19 (3) When screening children, the applicant will 

20 use the most recent hypertension guidelines pub21 lished by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood In22 stitute. 

23 (4) One month after the initial screening, chil24 dren who fall in the 95th percentile or above for stu25 dents with high blood pressure will be screened 

26 again. 


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1 (5) After a second screening, the applicant will 

2 provide the parents of those children who remain in 

3 the 95th percentile or above for students with high 

4 blood pressure the following: 

5 (A) A referral from a licensed school nurse 

6 to a health care provider that can consult with 

7 the parents about high blood pressure. 

8 (B) Written information provided by the 

9 Department of Health and Human Services re10 garding the risks of hypertension and how to 

11 implement lifestyle changes related to diet and 

12 exercise to improve overall health. 

13 (c) SELECTION OF GROUPS AT HIGH RISK FOR HY14 PERTENSION.—In selecting grant recipients under this 

15 section, the Secretary shall give preference to at least one 

16 local educational agency with a high percentage of Native 

17 American, Latino, or African-American students. 

18 (d) EVALUATION.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 completion of the demonstration projects carried out 

20 under this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress 

21 a report containing— 

22 (1) an evaluation of the success of the dem23 onstration projects carried out under this Act; 


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1 (2) information on the blood pressure informa2 tion taken and the number of referrals made under 

3 subsection (b)(5)(A); and 

4 (3) for each local educational agency receiving 

5 a grant under this Act, specific educational rec6 ommendations for such agency in the areas of nutri7 tion, physical activity, and overall health. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur9 poses of carrying out this Act, there are authorized to be 

10 appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of 

11 fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012. 

Æ 


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