As part of the Obama Administration’s emphasis on the importance of health and wellness, First Lady Michelle Obama and the President’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity recently released a report offering recommendations on reducing the obesity rate for children across the nation.
Using the resources of the federal government and the energy and enthusiasm of communities across the country, this report serves as a roadmap for meeting the goal of solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. This issue is of critical importance to African Americans because of the epidemic of obesity currently impacting our community and the long-term implications in particular for our children.
Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services tell the tale and are a great cause for concern. In 2007, 35 percent of African Americans over age 18 were diagnosed as obese. However, even more alarming during that same period is the childhood obesity rate for African Americans aged 2-19 – 19.8 percent for African-American boys and significantly higher, 29 percent for African-American girls.
When these conditions are allowed to persist over time, a child can develop serious health concerns, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. According to HHS, deaths from heart disease and stroke are twice the rate for African Americans compared to whites.
That is why this new, comprehensive approach to attacking the childhood obesity issue, anchored by a healthy diet and increased physical activity, is so important.
When First Lady launched her Let’s Move campaign in February, President Obama directed the Task Force on Childhood Obesity to develop a plan that included recommendations for what both the public and private sectors can do.
Twelve federal agencies, the Office of the First Lady, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House Domestic Policy Council are partnering to implement the more than 70 recommendations from the childhood obesity report which include: getting children a healthy start on life, empowering parents and caregivers, providing healthy food in schools, improving access to healthy, affordable food, getting children more physically active.
A new foundation called the Partnership for a Healthier America, where former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist and Newark Mayor Cory Booker serve as honorary vice chairs, will be working with the First Lady to cement private sector commitments towards the shared goal of reducing childhood obesity. The Partnership has announced a new pledge by a coalition of food and beverage companies to take actions aimed at reducing 1.5 trillion product calories by 2015 by adjusting the content of recipes and serving sizes.
The Task Force will monitor our progress through benchmarks such as increasing the number of children eating a healthy diet (with a particular emphasis on less added sugar and more fruits and vegetables), and increasing the number of children getting the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
This summer you will hear more about the Let’s Move campaign and our efforts to get kids more physically active during the warm summer months, to offer ideas for healthy meals with quality ingredients, and to support communities who have been particularly hard hit by the childhood obesity crisis. We can beat childhood obesity if we are all working together.
Melody Barnes is director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
