This bill creates a Healthy Kids Program to help babies, toddlers, and preschoolers develop good eating and activity habits in childcare, Head Start, family childcare, and pre-K settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would give 5-year grants to nonprofits, colleges, or consortia to train caregivers, link programs to nutrition supports, try new ideas, and involve families, with a focus on fighting food insecurity and improving daily movement and access to healthy foods . Grantees would work with states, Tribes, cities, and nonprofits that serve diverse communities across rural and urban areas. A national independent evaluator would check compliance and measure results. The program would also track state progress on healthy practices in early care and education and changes in food security, and a report of best practices would be sent to federal leaders after the work ends. Early care and education includes childcare programs, Head Start, family childcare, and pre-kindergarten programs.

The bill authorizes $5 million each year from 2026 through 2030 for these grants, plus $1.7 million in 2026 to track state progress.

• Who is affected: Children from birth to age 5 in early care and education; childcare and pre-K providers; states, territories, Tribes, and local communities; families .
• What changes: 5-year grants to train providers, connect programs to nutrition supports, test new approaches, improve access to healthy foods, and engage families; an independent evaluator; state-level tracking and a final report on results .
• When: Funding is authorized for fiscal years 2026–2030; grants run for five years; the final report is due within one year after the work is completed.