IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 339 
Expressing support for designation of September as National Childhood 
Obesity Awareness Month. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 7, 2011 
Ms. FUDGE (for herself, Ms. GRANGER, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. REYES, Mr. 
SERRANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. POLIS, Mr. 
BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Ms. NORTON, 
Ms. SEWELL, and Mr. RANGEL) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing support for designation of September as National 
Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. 
Whereas during the past four decades, obesity rates have 
soared among all age groups, increasing more than four-
fold among children ages 6 to 11; 
Whereas 31.8 percent or 23,000,000 children and teenagers 
ages 2 to 19 are obese or overweight, a statistic that 
health and medical experts consider an epidemic; 
Whereas significant disparities exist among the obesity rates 
of children based on race and poverty; for example on av-
erage 38 percent of Mexican-American children and 34.9 
percent of African-American children ages 2 to 19 are 
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overweight or obese, compared with 30.7 percent of 
White children and 39.5 percent of low-income American 
Indian and Alaska Native children ages 2 to 5; 
Whereas the financial implications of childhood obesity pose 
a financial threat to our economy and health care system, 
carrying up to $14,000,000,000 per year in direct health 
care cost, with people in the United States spending 
about 9 percent of their total medical costs on obesity- 
related illnesses; 
Whereas obese young people have an 80-percent chance of 
being obese adults and are more likely than children of 
normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and 
therefore more at risk for associated adult health prob-
lems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep 
apnea, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis; 
Whereas in part due to the childhood obesity epidemic, 1 in 
3 children (and nearly 1 in 2 minority children) born in 
the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes at some point 
in their lifetime if current trends continue; 
Whereas some consequences of childhood and adolescent obe-
sity are psychosocial and can hinder academic and social 
functioning and persist into adulthood; 
Whereas participating in physical activity is important for 
children and teens as it may have beneficial effects not 
only on body weight, but also on blood pressure and bone 
strength; 
Whereas proper nutrition is important for children before 
birth and through their life span as nutrition has bene-
ficial effects for health and body weight, and is important 
in the prevention of various chronic diseases; 
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Whereas childhood obesity is preventable, yet does not appear 
to be declining; 
Whereas public, community-based, and private sector organi-
zations and individuals throughout the United States are 
working to decrease childhood obesity rates for people in 
the United States of all races through a range of efforts, 
including educational presentations, media campaigns, 
Web sites, policies, healthier food options, and greater 
opportunities for physical activity; and 
Whereas September would be an appropriate month to des-
ignate as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month 
to educate the public about the need for increased edu-
cation and proactive steps to prevent childhood obesity in 
the United States: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the designation of National Child-
hood Obesity Awareness Month to raise public 
awareness and mobilize the country to address child-
hood obesity; 
(2) recognizes the importance of preventing 
childhood obesity and decreasing its prevalence in 
the United States; and 
(3) requests that the President encourage the 
Federal Government, States, tribes and tribal orga-
nizations, localities, schools, nonprofit organizations, 
businesses, other entities, and the people of the 
United States to observe the month with appropriate 
programs and activities with the goal of promoting 
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healthy eating and physical activity and increasing 
awareness of childhood obesity among individuals of 
all ages and walks of life. 
Æ 
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