Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 2025
The Reducing Obesity in Youth Act of 2025 would create a new Healthy Kids Grant Program within the Public Health Service Act. The core idea is to fund competitive, five-year grants to eligible entities (nonprofits with ECE obesity prevention expertise, colleges/universities or research centers with relevant expertise, or consortia of these groups) to improve healthy eating and physical activity for children from birth through age 5 in early care and education (ECE) settings, and to address food insecurity among these children. Grant activities would focus on training and coaching ECE providers, building state capacity to integrate nutrition and activity promotion into ECE programs, testing innovative approaches, and engaging families. The program would include an external evaluator to standardize grant oversight and measure outcomes, with a broader goal of tracking progress and informing federal actions. The legislation authorizes specific annual funding and provides a framework for evaluating and reporting results to Congress. Potential impact includes improved ECE environments (nutrition access, physical activity opportunities, staff training), stronger links between ECE programs and nutrition supports, and better data on what works to reduce food insecurity and obesity risk among very young children. By emphasizing equity and diverse implementing partners and settings, the bill aims to reach underserved populations in both rural and urban areas.
Key Points
- 15-year competitive grants to improve healthy eating and physical activity, and to address food insecurity, for children birth through 5 in early care and education settings.
- 2Eligibility: eligible entities are (1) nonprofit organizations with ECE health/obesity prevention expertise; (2) institutes of higher education or research centers with relevant expertise; (3) consortia of (1) and/or (2) that apply jointly.
- 3Use of funds: grants must support direct coaching and professional development for ECE providers; build State capacity to integrate health promotion into ECE programs and link to nutrition supports; test innovative or evidence-informed approaches; engage families of children served by the grantee programs.
- 4Implementing partners: grantees must choose partners that serve diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic populations and include both rural and urban settings.
- 5External evaluation: the Secretary must hire a national independent evaluator to create a uniform process to ensure compliance and to evaluate grant outcomes.
- 6Tracking and reporting: the program may fund monitoring to track state progress on obesity prevention and food security, with a final evaluation report to Congress within one year after program completion.
- 7Funding and duration: authorizes $5,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026-2030; an additional $1,700,000 is authorized in 2026 specifically for tracking state progress.
- 8Definitions: “early care and education” includes birth through age 5 in-home or out-of-home settings (childcare, Head Start, family childcare, pre-K).