In an effort to combat the epidemic of obesity sweeping the nation, Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) today introduced the Federal Obesity Prevention Act of 2008. This legislation, which is cosponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), would establish a federal interagency taskforce responsible for creating a national strategy for combating obesity across America.  

Members of the task force will include secretaries and representatives from Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, Transportation, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Interior, and Labor as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

“Obesity is quickly becoming a medical emergency of hurricane-like proportions,” said Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families.  “We know this storm is coming – we know the havoc it is already wreaking on our families, on our society and on our healthcare system, which is already strained to the breaking point.  And we have the tools to fight it.  I’m thrilled to be joining Senators Harkin and Bingaman to introduce legislation that will marshal the resources and manpower of the Federal government to tackle the obesity problem head on.”

“Our legislation will bring together agencies from throughout our federal government to develop a roadmap for a healthier America,” said Harkin. “The increasing urgency of this dire situation calls for an integrated, comprehensive strategy that employs real solutions to curb obesity and improve the health of every American.”

“Obesity is our nation’s fastest rising public health problem.  We need to do much more to ensure that we are addressing this problem and its very serious consequences,” Bingaman said.  “The bill takes an important first step by ensuring a coordinated and effective response by our federal government to address America’s obesity epidemic.”

Over the last two weeks, Senator Dodd has held a series of hearings in the Children and Families Subcommittee to examine the dangerous consequences of childhood obesity and possible solutions to address this growing medical emergency.  Dodd heard from medical experts, government officials, chief executives, and a young man that successfully won his struggle against obesity with the help of a school-based health clinic.  

As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees health funding and a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, Harkin authored the HeLP America Act that provides all sectors - child care centers, schools, workplaces, health care providers and communities - with the incentives and tools they need to reach the goal of making America a healthier place. Harkin is also the author of the bipartisan Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act, which would update decades-old federal nutrition standards for snack foods sold in school cafeterias alongside the regular school meals, and would apply those standards everywhere on school grounds, including in vending machines and school stores.

The Federal Obesity Prevention Act of 2008

Sponsored by Senators Harkin, Dodd, Bingaman, Kennedy, and Mikulski

The next generation of Americans may be the first generation to be less healthy than their parents.  The primary driver of this is the growing childhood obesity problem and the resultant health impacts, including increasing rates of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.  The rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last three decades. Currently, 25 million or one third of American children and youth are either obese or are at risk of becoming obese. Childhood obesity involves immediate and long-term risks to physical and psychological health.  Children are increasingly being diagnosed with health problems that were historically confined to adults, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. 

The Federal Obesity Prevention Act of 2008 was developed to respond to the recommendations of public health experts and organizations, including the Institute of Medicine and Trust For America’s Health, which have called for more coordinated, sustained federal leadership to address the obesity crisis.  The legislation establishes an interagency task force of department Secretaries or other high level officials to fill that need.  The task force will:

• Establish a government-wide strategy for preventing and reducing overweight  and obesity that  includes defining clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability for all agencies of the Federal Government;

• Coordinate effective interagency coordination and priorities for action among Federal agencies, including short-term and long-term goals for childhood and adult obesity rates; and

• Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.

Members of the task force will include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, Transportation, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Interior, and Labor as well as the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

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