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Watch Live: Celebrating the Success of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns, and Counties

Later today, Mayors and local elected officials will gather at a White House event to recognize the work of Let’s Move! Cities Towns, and Counties.  These local elected officials have led the nation by pioneering commitments to improve the health of children in their communities.

Be sure to check out the live stream of the event, starting at 1 pm, at obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/live.

Childhood obesity, a national problem, can’t be solved only at the national level. It takes leadership at the local level. And over the past year, the country has witnessed a stunning impact − city by city, town by town and county by county – in our national efforts to promote healthy lifestyles among our youth. And I am proud that local elected officials representing 46 states and the District of Columbia have led the way by achieving our five Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties goals.

These goals highlight actions reflected around the country that are enabling kids to get active and healthy. For example, the city of St. Petersburg, FL has collaborated with the Pinellas County School District to provide nutritious breakfast and lunch during the school year for many of their 35,000 public school students. During the summer months, when school is out, the city provides healthy meals through their recreation programs.  

Programs like these advance the goals of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties in commendable ways. To date, the National League of Cities has awarded 1,019 bronze, silver, and gold medals to local elected officials for their achievements in implementing benchmarks associated with Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties. 

Our children are 25% of our population and 100% of our future.  And thanks to the First Lady and all of the local elected officials leading this initiative, we’re documenting greater progress and better results in keeping them healthy.  We need the support and participation of every city, town and county in this country if we are going to achieve our goal of building healthy communities for a healthy future.

You can encourage your local leaders to visit www.healthycommunitieshealthyfuture.org to learn more and sign up to make your community healthier!