Grants would support young children’s healthy habits if funded

The CDC would award five-year competitive grants. The grants would support programs serving children from birth through age 5, including childcare in homes and other settings. Nonprofits must have expertise in early childhood health and childhood obesity prevention. Colleges and research centers must employ faculty with relevant expertise and have expertise in training early childhood providers. Eligible organizations could apply together through one application. Congress would need to provide funding; the bill would authorize $5 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

Grant recipients would work with partners to train providers, connect programs to nutrition support, and test approaches to healthy habits. The work would focus on early childhood care and education programs, with an emphasis on fair access to nutrition support. Partners must serve populations with varied racial, ethnic, economic, and geographic backgrounds. Partners must represent a mix of rural and urban settings.

The CDC would hire an outside evaluator to check grant recipients’ compliance and results. The evaluator would be paid from program funds. Optional tracking would cover state prevention efforts where recipients work and whether groups reached have enough food. The bill would authorize a separate $1.7 million for tracking in fiscal year 2026; Congress would need to provide that money. The CDC would hire the evaluator before awarding grants and report results within one year after funded activities, including monitoring, finish.