Such strategies include updating child nutrition policies in a way that addresses the best available scientific information, ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools and communities, as well as increasing physical activity and empowering parents and caregivers with the information and tools they need to make good choices for themselves and their families.
They will help our children develop lifelong healthy habits, ensuring they reach their greatest potential toward building a healthier and more prosperous America. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. Let's Move. Top Ten Let's Move! Impact of Let's Move! The campaign approached this imperative in several ways:. In an introduction to a issue of Childhood Obesity, the former First Lady touted the success of the program on nearly all these fronts.
Retailers are working to lower the cost of fruits, vegetables, and healthy options. Congress passed historic legislation to provide more nutritious school meals to millions of American children. Yet in spite of this enthusiastic summary, the data at that time was mixed. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the Journal of American Medical Association showed that, between and , 17 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 19 were considered obese.
These results were consistent with numbers over the last few years. Meanwhile, a study released in the journal Obesity actually reports an increase in the number of overweight and obese children in the 2- to year-old range since Their data suggested that childhood obesity rates have been climbing through the years, jumping from However, looking back at the above JAMA study, at obesity rates in children between the ages of 2- and 5-years-old, researchers found a significant overall decrease in that population : Only 8 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds were obese in , down from 14 percent in This decrease amongst the younger populations versus older children suggests a validation of the assertions of the New England Journal of Medicine authors.
It may also be the key to reducing childhood obesity rates is to focus on younger populations. Add to this the move by the U.
As Kass said, "The bill would not have passed without both the first lady and the president personally getting involved and making that bill pass. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids is now widely considered a landmark piece of legislation and a boon for public health. As Juliana Cohen , a nutrition professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, points out, the National School Lunch Program feeds more than 30 million children every day — and the majority come from poor families who rely on these meals for up to half their daily energy intake.
It will take years to know how much this legislation moves the needle on childhood obesity. But early measures suggest promise. Researchers who have studied the impact of the law have been finding that kids across the country are now eating more produce and whole grains. In addition to her leadership and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, the first lady managed to influence food policy by maintaining a positive public image.
Among the most prominent of her staff members was Kass. Her role was to set the vision. At Obama's urging, the agency enacted one of the most dramatic overhauls to nutrition labels in decades. And last May, Obama was the one who announced the final version of n ew food labels , which is slated to appear on everything from sodas to candy bars, yogurts, and cereal packages starting in The labels will finally give consumers long-sought-after information about added sugars in foods — data that health advocates had pressed the food and beverage industry to provide for decades.
More subtly, the new labels are expected to get companies to reformulate products to make them healthier and less sugary. Another milestone came in June , when the FDA banned trans fats from the food supply within three years. The policy brought the US in line with other countries that have already banned the harmful fat, including Denmark, Austria, Iceland, and Switzerland.
And it came long after scientific evidence had mounted for years that these processed unsaturated fats increase the risk for heart attacks and strokes. Before the trans fat ban turned into a federal policy, Michelle Obama, along with Sam Kass, had already been working with companies , like Walmart, to get them to pledge to remove trans fats along with reducing sodium and sugar from products sold in their stores and to bring affordable, nutritious foods to food deserts by opening new stores.
At the latest count in April, it had already removed 6. And the Industry is responding to this enhanced consumer interest in changed products, healthier alternatives, and more of a focus on health. Even with all her charisma and determination, the first lady's close work with the food industry has also attracted criticism over the years. These companies need to maintain their market share while being perceived to be helpful and instructive, he added. Early in her obesity work, Obama called on food companies to stop marketing junk food to children.
And the administration at first pushed back then gave into the industry lobbying effort. Kass says there was nothing more the administration could do since the guidelines fall under the Federal Trade Commission, which the White House does not control.
On the flip side, he added, working with the food industry may have been a wise choice as another avenue through which Obama could change how we eat. William Dietz , a longtime obesity researcher who helped identify the obesity epidemic in the US while at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Obama was particularly savvy in her industry collaboration.
She wanted to both "create a space that anybody who was serious about becoming a part of the solution had a seat at the table" and move past the gridlock and finger-pointing that characterized many public health food fights.
Then there was the smart choice of a name.
0コメント