IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 303
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to obesity in the United 
States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 16, 2003
Mr. ANDREWS submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to obesity 
in the United States.
Whereas, as the second leading cause of preventable death in 
the United States today, overweight and obesity pose a 
major public health challenge; 
Whereas higher body weights are associated with increases in 
all causes of mortality; 
Whereas an estimated 97,000,000 adults in the United States 
are overweight or obese, a condition that substantially 
raises their risk of morbidity from hypertension, 
dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, 
stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea 
and respiratory problems, and endometrial, breast, pros-
tate, and colon cancers;
•HCON 303 IH 
Whereas obese individuals may also suffer from social stig-
matization and discrimination; 
Whereas overweight is defined as a body mass index (‘‘BMI’’) 
of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2 and obesity as a BMI equal to or 
greater than 30 kg/m2 (but overweight and obesity are 
not mutually exclusive, as obese persons are also over-
weight); 
Whereas a BMI of 30 is approximately 30 pounds over-
weight, which is equivalent to 221 pounds in a 6′0″ indi-
vidual and to 186 pounds in a 5′6″ individual; 
Whereas the number of overweight and obese individuals 
(men and women) has risen since 1960, and in the last 
decade, the percentage of individuals age 20 years or 
older who are overweight or obese has increased to 54.9 
percent; 
Whereas overweight and obesity are especially evident in 
some minority groups, as well as in those with lower in-
comes and less education; and 
Whereas a month should be designated for appropriate public 
and private entities to carry out activities to raise aware-
ness of the health problems associated with being over-
weight or obese: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the role played by national and community 
organizations and health care providers in promoting 
awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and 
assessment of obesity should be recognized and ap-
plauded;
•HCON 303 IH 
(2) the Federal Government has a responsi-
bility—
(A) to endeavor to raise awareness about 
the medical complications of obesity and its 
alarming prevalence and incidence growth, as 
well as the medical model for its assessment 
and treatment; 
(B) to increase funding for research so 
that causes of and improved treatment for obe-
sity and overweightedness may be discovered; 
(C) to continue to consider ways to im-
prove access to quality health care services for 
the early assessment of risk and treatment of 
obesity; and 
(D) to target prevention and intervention 
to reduce obesity and overweightedness in chil-
dren and adolescents; 
(3) the Director of the National Heart, Lung, 
and Blood Institute should continue to take a lead-
ership role in the fight against obesity and 
overweightedness through the expansion of basic, 
clinical, and genetic research; 
(4) a month should be established as National 
Obesity Awareness Month; and 
(5) the President should issue a proclamation—
•HCON 303 IH 
(A) 
recognizing 
a 
‘‘National 
Obesity 
Awareness Month’’; 
(B) encouraging all health organizations in 
the United States to host activities to promote 
obesity and overweightedness awareness; and 
(C) calling upon the people of the United 
States to observe the month with appropriate 
programs and activities to improve prevention 
and early intervention and to promote the im-
portance of regular physical activity and phys-
ical education in our Nation’s schools.
Æ