I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 10548 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect children’s health 
by denying any deduction for advertising and marketing directed at 
children to promote the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 20, 2024 
Ms. DELAURO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect 
children’s health by denying any deduction for adver-
tising and marketing directed at children to promote 
the consumption of food of poor nutritional quality. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Subsidizing 
Childhood Obesity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol, nearly one-fifth of children and adolescents ages 
2–19 have obesity. Black and Hispanic children and 
adolescents have higher rates of obesity than white 
children and adolescents. Children and adolescents 
from families with an income at or below 130 per-
cent of the federal poverty level also have higher 
rates of obesity compared to children and adoles-
cents whose family income is more than 350 percent 
of the Federal poverty level. 
(2) A study published in the New England 
Journal of Medicine found that if the child and ado-
lescent population of the United States continues on 
its current trajectory, a majority of today’s children 
will be obese by age 35. 
(3) Health-related behaviors, such as eating 
habits and physical activity patterns, develop early 
in life and often extend into adulthood. Overall, 
American children and youth are not achieving basic 
nutritional goals. The diets of American children 
and adolescents depart substantially from rec-
ommended patterns that put their health at risk. 
They consume excess calories and added sugars and 
have higher than recommended intakes of sodium, 
total fat, and saturated fats. 
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(4) According to a 2012 report from the Fed-
eral Trade Commission, the total amount spent on 
food marketing to children is about $1,800,000,000 
a year. 
(5) Companies market food to children through 
television, radio, internet and social media, maga-
zines, product placement in movies and video games, 
schools, product packages, toys, clothing and other 
merchandise, and almost anywhere a logo or product 
image can be displayed. 
(6) According to a comprehensive review by the 
National Academy of Medicine, television food adver-
tising affects children’s food choices, food purchase 
requests, diets, and health. 
(7) A 2006 report from the National Academy 
of Medicine confirmed that marketing of high-calorie 
foods to children and adolescents has been identified 
as one of the major contributors to childhood obe-
sity. 
(8) Nearly all foods advertised on television pro-
gramming intended for children are for products 
‘‘high in nutrients to limit’’, as determined by the 
Federal Interagency Working Group, including satu-
rated fat, trans fat, sugar, and sodium. According to 
research from the University of Illinois Chicago, 
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children under 12 still see more than 1,000 food-re-
lated ads a year, most of them for unhealthy prod-
ucts. 
(9) Food and beverage companies dispropor-
tionately target advertising for many of their least 
nutritious brands to black and Hispanic youth, 
which contributes to health disparities. According to 
a study from the University of Connecticut, Black 
youth viewed 75 percent more ads than their white 
peers. The study also showed that disparities in ra-
cial and ethnic targeted advertising are widening. In 
2012, Black preschoolers, children, and teens saw 
approximately 60 percent more fast-food ads than 
their White peers, and in 2019, they saw approxi-
mately 75 percent more. Additionally, in 2019, fast- 
food restaurants spent $318,000,000 to advertise on 
Spanish-language TV, a 33 percent increase from 
2012. The number of ads viewed by Hispanic pre-
schoolers and children increased 2 percent and 7 
percent respectively over the 7-year period, in con-
trast with a decline in ads viewed by preschoolers 
and children overall during the same time period. 
(10) According to a 2015 study in the Amer-
ican Journal of Preventative Medicine, eliminating 
the tax deduction for television advertising expenses 
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with respect to advertisements for unhealthy food 
and beverages that target children could reduce 
childhood 
obesity 
and 
save 
approximately 
$350,000,000 in healthcare costs over the course of 
a decade. 
SEC. 3. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR MARKETING DI-
RECTED AT CHILDREN TO PROMOTE FOOD 
OF POOR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part IX of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 280I. DENIAL OF DEDUCTION FOR MARKETING DI-
RECTED AT CHILDREN FOR FOOD OF POOR 
NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OR BRANDS PRI-
MARILY ASSOCIATED WITH FOOD OF POOR 
NUTRITIONAL QUALITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be allowed 
under this chapter with respect to— 
‘‘(1) any marketing primarily directed at chil-
dren for food of poor nutritional quality or brands 
primarily associated with food of poor nutritional 
quality, and 
‘‘(2) any of the following which are incurred or 
provided primarily for purposes described in para-
graph (1): 
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‘‘(A) Travel expenses (including meals and 
lodging). 
‘‘(B) Goods or services of a type generally 
considered to constitute entertainment, amuse-
ment, or recreation or the use of a facility in 
connection with providing such goods and serv-
ices. 
‘‘(C) Gifts. 
‘‘(D) Other promotion expenses. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) BRAND.—The term ‘brand’ means a cor-
porate or product name, a business image, or a 
mark, regardless of whether it may legally qualify as 
a trademark, used by a seller or manufacturer to 
identify goods or services and to distinguish them 
from the goods of a competitor. 
‘‘(2) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi-
vidual who is age 14 or under. 
‘‘(3) DIRECTED AT.—The term ‘directed at’ in-
cludes the use of measured media if the audience for 
such media will consist of 25 percent or more of 
children. 
‘‘(c) MARKETING.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘marketing’ means all advertising and promotional 
techniques, including— 
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‘‘(1) advertising (including product placement) 
on television and radio, in print media, in social 
media, mobile media and apps, and on the Internet 
(including 
third-party 
and 
company-sponsored 
websites), 
‘‘(2) product packaging and labeling, 
‘‘(3) advertising preceding a movie shown in a 
movie theater or placed on a video (DVD or VHS) 
or within a video game or mobile application, 
‘‘(4) promotional content transmitted to per-
sonal computers and other digital or mobile devices, 
‘‘(5) advertising displays and promotions at the 
retail site, including preferential placement, 
‘‘(6) specialty or premium items distributed in 
connection with the sale of a product or a product 
loyalty program, 
‘‘(7) character licensing fees, toy cobranding 
and cross-promotions, 
‘‘(8) sponsorship of events, 
‘‘(9) celebrity endorsements, and 
‘‘(10) in-school advertising including corporate- 
branded materials, corporate incentive programs, 
label redemption programs, fundraisers, signs, score-
boards, posters, vending machine fronts, in-school 
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TV and radio, corporate sponsorships, and market 
research activities. 
‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services and the Federal Trade Commission, shall promul-
gate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
the purposes of this section, including regulations defining 
the terms ‘directed at children’, ‘food of poor nutritional 
quality’, and ‘brand primarily associated with food of poor 
nutritional quality’, based on the National Academy of 
Medicine report described in section 3(b) of the Stop Sub-
sidizing Childhood Obesity Act, for purposes of this sec-
tion.’’. 
(b) STUDY BY NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 
shall enter into a contract with the National Acad-
emy of Medicine to develop procedures for the eval-
uation and identification of— 
(A) food of poor nutritional quality; and 
(B) brands that are primarily associated 
with food of poor nutritional quality. 
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(2) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Na-
tional Academy of Medicine shall submit to the Sec-
retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 
a report that establishes the proposed procedures de-
scribed in paragraph (1). 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for part IX of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 280I. Denial of deduction for marketing directed at children for food of 
poor nutritional quality or brands primarily associated with 
food of poor nutritional quality.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax-
able years beginning 24 months after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE FRESH FRUIT AND 
VEGETABLE PROGRAM. 
In addition to any other amounts made available to 
carry out the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under 
section 19 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a), the Secretary of the Treas-
ury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall, on an annual basis, 
transfer to such program, from amounts in the general 
fund of the Treasury of the United States, an amount de-
termined by the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Sec-
retary’s delegate) to be equal to the increase in revenue 
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for the preceding 12-month period by reason of the 
amendments made by section 3 of this Act. 
Æ 
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