In 2008, Delegate Peña-Melnyk was the primary sponsor of H.B. 1176, which established the Committee on Childhood Obesity and tasked it with providing recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on issues such as insurance for the diagnosis and treatment of childhood obesity, data collection on the statewide rate of childhood obesity, best practices to address the epidemic, methods to raise the public awareness, and ways to increase obesity screenings for children. The Committee delivered its report in December 2009, making 12 recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly in the areas of policy and environmental change, health care, public awareness and infrastructure.