Booker, Cohen Reintroduce Reducing Obesity in Youth Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) reintroduced the bicameral Reducing Obesity in Youth Act, legislation that would address the epidemic of childhood obesity in America. The bill would create incentives to improve the future health of American children and affect future national health care costs and national security.

One in three American teens and children is overweight or obese, placing them at risk of a host of cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.

"The childhood obesity epidemic is a growing health crisis leading to higher risks of chronic diseases, stroke, and heart conditions. This bicameral bill will create a grant program and enable local and state entities to promote healthy habits for our nation's children so we can start to build a healthier America," said Senator Booker.

"I have long been concerned that Tennessee has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the nation. The national childhood obesity rate is dangerously high but, in recent years, Tennessee has trended even higher than the national average. The Reducing Obesity in Youth Act I am introducing with Senator Booker would help to reverse this trend and improve the health and well-being of America's children. Research shows that early childhood is an important time for developing positive dietary and physical activity behaviors. The House and Senate bills being introduced would create a competitive grant program to incentivize the development of earlier health and nutrition education environments for our children. That kind of healthy start will lead to healthy lives," said Congressman Cohen.

The Reducing Obesity in Youth Act (ROYA) would:

• Create a five-year competitive grant program to local entities to improve healthy eating and physical activity among young children in early care and education environments.
• Integrate the promotion of healthy eating (including early feeding best practices), physical activity, and screen time reduction into existing early care and education State programs by requiring local grantees to use funding to provide training, technical assistance, and resources to implementing partners.
• Allow the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to use a portion of the funding to enter contracts with institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or other entities with relevant monitoring and surveillance expertise to track State progress in obesity prevention policies.

To read the full text of the bill, click here.