Michelle Obama childhood obesity action plan; events around the nation

WASHINGTON–First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday morning releases a report, “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation” with 70 proposals to reduce childhood obesity.

Click below for a summary of the recommendations and here for the full report package.

from the White House:

In conjunction with the release of the action plan, Cabinet Members and Administration Officials will hold events across the country to highlight the importance of addressing childhood obesity.

“For the first time, the nation will have goals, benchmarks, and measureable outcomes that will help us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic one child, one family, and one community at a time,” Mrs. Obama said. “We want to marshal every resource – public and private sector, mayors and governors, parents and educators, business owners and health care providers, coaches and athletes – to ensure that we are providing each and every child the happy, healthy future they deserve.”

Below, a summary of suggestions from the report….

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

94

Recommendation 3.11: Where possible, use school gardens to educate students about healthy eating.

x

x

45

Recommendation 3.12: Technical assistance should be provided to schools about how to a cafeteria and lunch room environment can support and encourage a healthful meal

x

45

Recommendation 3.13: Schools should be encouraged to ensure that choosing a healthy school meal does not have a social cost for a child

x

45

Recommendation 3.14: Schools should be encouraged to consider the impact of food marketing on education.

x

x

45

Recommendation 3.15: School districts should be encouraged to create, post, and implement a strong local school wellness policy.

x

x

x

45

Recommendation 3.16: Promote good nutrition through afterschool programs.

x

x

x

47

Recommendation 3.17: Promote healthy behaviors in juvenile correctional and related facilities.

x

x

x

47

Embargoed for 10AM. May 11, 2010

Summ mm ary ry of of Recomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ations tions tions tions tions

95

IV. Access to Healthy, Affordable Food

Recommendation

Federal action

State or

local action

Private sector action

Page

Recommendation 4.1: Launch a multi-year, multi-agency Healthy Food Financing Initiative to leverage private funds to increase the availability of affordable, healthy foods in underserved urban and rural communities across the country.

x

x

x

53

Recommendation 4.2: Local governments should be encouraged to create incentives to attract supermarkets and grocery stores to underserved neighborhoods and improve transportation routes to healthy food retailers.

x

54

Recommendation 4.3: Food distributors should be encouraged to explore ways to use their existing distribution chains and systems to bring fresh and healthy foods into underserved communities.

x

x

54

Recommendation 4.4: Encourage communities to promote efforts to provide fruits and vegetables in a variety of settings and encourage the establishment and use of direct-to-consumer marketing outlets such as farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture subscriptions.

x

54

Recommendation 4.5: Encourage the establishment of regional, city, or county food policy councils to enhance comprehensive food system policy that improve health

x

54

Recommendation 4.6: Encourage publicly and privately-managed facilities that serve children, such as hospitals, afterschool programs, recreation centers, and parks (including national parks) to implement policies and practices, consistent with the Dietary Guidelines, to promote healthy foods and beverages and reduce or eliminate the availability of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods

x

x

x

54

Recommendation 4.7: Provide economic incentives to increase production of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as create greater access to local and healthy food for consumers.

x

59

Recommendation 4.8: Demonstrate and evaluate the effect of targeted subsidies on purchases of healthy food through nutrition assistance programs.

x

59

Embargoed for 10AM. May 11, 2010

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

96

Recommendation 4.9: Analyze the effect of state and local sales taxes on less healthy, energy-dense foods

x

x

59

Recommendation 4.10: The food, beverage, and restaurant industries should be encouraged to use their creativity and resources to develop or reformulate more healthful foods for children and young people

x

60

Recommendation 4.11: Increase participation rates in USDA nutrition assistance programs through creative outreach and improved customer service, state adoption of improved policy options and technology systems, and effective practices to ensure ready access to nutrition assistance program benefits, especially for children.

x

x

x

62

Embargoed for 10AM. May 11, 2010

Summ mm ary ry of of Recomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ecomend ations tions tions tions tions

97

V. Increasing Physical Activity

Recommendation

Federal action

State or

local action

Private sector action

Page

Recommendation 5.1: Developers of local school wellness policies should be encouraged to include strong physical activity components, on par with nutrition components.

x

73

Recommendation 5.2: The President’s Challenge should be updated to ensure consistency with the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and to ensure ease of use and implementation by schools. Private sector partners with an interest in physical activity should help enroll children in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award program

x

x

73

Recommendation 5.3: State and local educational agencies should be encouraged to increase the quality and frequency of sequential, age- and developmentally- appropriate physical education for all students, taught by certified PE teachers

x

x

73

Recommendation 5.4: State and local educational agencies should be encouraged to promote recess for elementary students and physical activity breaks for older students, and provide support to schools to implement recess in a healthy way that promotes physical activity and social skill development.

x

73

Recommendation 5.5: State and local educational agencies should be encouraged to provide opportunities in and outside of school for students at increased risk for physical inactivity, including children with disabilities, children with asthma and other chronic diseases, and girls

x

x

74

Recommendation 5.6: Federal, state, and local educational agencies, in partnership with communities and businesses, should work to support programs to extend the school day, including afterschool programs, which offer and enhance physical activity opportunities in their programs

x

x

x

77

Recommendation 5.7: State and local educational agencies should be encouraged to support interscholastic sports and help decrease prohibitive costs of sports by curbing practices such as “pay-to-play,” working with other public and private sector partners.

x

x

x

78

Recommendation 5.8: Reauthorize a Surface Transportation Act that enhances livability and physical activity.

x

x

81

Embargoed for 10AM. May 11, 2010

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY

98

Recommendation 5.9: The Environmental Protection Agency should assist school districts that may be interested in siting guidelines for new schools that consider the promotion of physical activity, including whether students will be able to walk or bike to school

x

x

81

Recommendation 5.10: Communities should be encouraged to consider the impacts of built environment policies and regulations on human health.

x

x

81

Recommendation 5.11: The Federal Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) should be continued and enhanced to accommodate the growing interest in implementing Safe Routes to Schools plans in communities.

x

82

Recommendation 5.12: “Active transport” should be encouraged between homes, schools, and community destinations for afterschool activities, including to and from parks, libraries, transit, bus stops, and recreation centers.

x

x

82

Recommendation 5.13: Increase the number of safe and accessible parks and playgrounds, particularly in underserved and low-income communities

x

x

x

83

Recommendation 5.14: The Federal government should continue to support investments in a wide range of outdoor recreation venues, such as National Parks, Forests, Refuges and other public lands, and expand opportunities for children to enjoy these venues.

x

84

Recommendation 5.15: Local governments should be encouraged to enter into joint use agreements to increase children’s access to community sites for indoor and outdoor recreation

x

84

Recommendation 5.16: The business sector should be encouraged to consider which resources and physical assets like fields and gyms can be used to increase students’ access to outdoor and indoor recreational venues

x

84

Recommendation 5.17: Entertainment and technology companies should continue to develop new approaches for using technology to engage children in physical activity