President Obama signed a memorandum on February 9th, officially launching a federal task force to battle the childhood obesity epidemic. The government campaign, led by first lady Michelle Obama, who declared fighting childhood obesity would be her signature issue this year, hopes to end childhood obesity within a generation through new steps to encourage exercise and nutrition.
The government is trying to shift the childhood obesity conversation away from achieving a particular weight or dress size and toward the benefits of good nutrition and plenty of physical activity.
“This isn’t just about inches and pounds, and it’s not about how our kids look,” Mrs. Obama said. “It’s about how our kids feel, and it’s about how they feel about themselves.”
The campaign, known as Let’s Move, focuses on informing parents of the importance of proper nutrition and exercise for their families, decreasing fat, sugar and processed foods in meals, making nutritious food more accessible to families and increasing the emphasis on physical education.
The administration plans to get the FDA and the American Beverage Association to use better labeling of nutritional information and hopes to work with The American Academy of Pediatrics to educate their members on better obesity monitoring in children. Beverage companies including Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. said they will post calorie counts on the front of their containers by the end of 2012. School cafeteria suppliers including Sodexo Inc. pledged to double the amount of produce they serve in schools and reduce sugar, fat and salt in their meals over the next decade .
The White House also plans to spend $5 million to help fund farmers’ markets and $400 million to bring grocery stores to areas in need.
While government statistics released last month reveal the three-decade rise in child obesity rates is leveling off, the rate is still too high. A third of U.S. children are obese or overweight, putting them at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep problems and depression.
Michelle Obama has often spoken candidly about why this issue is so near and dear to her heart, and why the nation should become just as vigilant. Mrs. Obama revealed in an interview with NPR that she was shocked when she found out there her children were in danger of becoming obese. To help get her family back on track, they limited TV time and made more nutritious meals for dinner.
“It’s time for us to be really honest with ourselves about how we got here, because the truth is our kids didn’t do this to themselves,” Mrs. Obama said.
