Last Updated: 2002-05-21 17:00:48 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Todd Zwillich

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The US Senate will soon see legislation aimed at reducing skyrocketing levels of obesity in American children and adolescents, lawmakers said Tuesday.

Draft legislation in circulation on Capitol Hill could authorize billions in government spending to encourage increased physical activity and improved nutrition at schools. The proposal is an attempt to help quell the number of obese and overweight children in the US, which has doubled over the last 20 years, they said.

American obesity and overweight rates have become an increasing source of concern for US health officials. A recent report from former US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said that obesity had reached "epidemic proportion," leading to 300,000 premature deaths and costing the economy some $120 billion annually.

Over 8 million US children currently meet the clinical definitions of overweight or obesity, according to federal health figures. Most experts blame two main factors--falling levels of physical activity and an increasingly fat-laden and high-calorie diet--for escalating rates among Americans adults and children.

"The data are likely to get worse, not better," said Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee subpanel on public health.

The committee is preparing to introduce legislation that would authorize $40 million in federal spending next year to expand a federal program designed to help schools implement physical education and nutrition classes. Another $40 million would be authorized for states and communities to build parks, bike paths, and recreation centers and to promote physical activities among residents.

Frist, who is sponsoring the legislation along with subcommittee chair Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), said that new pilot projects on physical activity "will translate down in reductions in deaths" from obesity. Studies have suggested that obesity increases the risk of premature death by 50% to 100% by increasing rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

Some money in the bill would be funneled through a nutrition and physical activity program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. William H. Dietz, the director of the CDC's division on nutrition and physical activity, said that scientific data show that promoting increased consumption of fruit and vegetables can help reduce obesity rates in children.

Some health groups have called for restrictions on "pouring rights" at schools in which soft drink makers or food manufacturers send cash to financially needy schools in exchange for exclusive marketing rights to students attending classes.

At least two states, Texas and California, are already moving to limit schools' ability to make such deals with food and beverage makers.

Senate aides said that the bill, still in draft form, is unlikely to directly restrict soft drink and food manufacturers from pursuing the deals. Such restrictions would probably have little effect because students simply "go to the ring of fast food chains that generally surround those high schools," Dietz told lawmakers.

Lobbying groups for the beverage and food industries said they support nutrition programs in schools but urged lawmakers to avoid funding any programs that seek to steer children to healthier foods.

"Restricting, taxing, or prohibiting certain foods will almost certainly not work," said Lisa Katic, a health policy advisor with the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

The bill would also authorize a variety of federal studies, including one by the General Accounting Office.

http://www.reutershealth.com/archiv...521elin034.html

Heh heh... The director of the nutrition and physical activity division of the CDC is Dr. Dietz.

That is just too good!