Posted by Robin Schepper, Executive Director of Let’s Move! on March 1, 2011
Let’s Move! online is expanding! Recently, we created a twitter account that will allow followers to get updates about the First Lady’s initiative to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. Follow us at www.twitter.com/letsmove. Following us on twitter will let you get direct links to posts on this blog when they go up and resources for being active on these issues in your family and community.
Posted by Levi Horn, Professional Football Player for the Chicago Bears on March 1, 2011
Earlier this month, I had the great privilege of introducing the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) to over 40,000 students at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools. With BIE Deputy Director Bart Stevens, I visited the National Indian Programs Training Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico to make this announcement through ELKNet – a satellite broadcast system that reaches all 183 BIE schools. Bart and I were joined by Sam McCracken from NikeN7 – Nike’s foundation to promote sports and physical activity among Native American and Aboriginal communities.
Posted by Robert Robertson, Playworks Program Coordinator, AmeriCorps member on February 28, 2011
There are a lot of people talking about how to get kids physically active. Too often the conversation is about how kids can get more exercise, which conjures up images of kids running laps or doing push-ups. The key to changing habits is to tap into what kids already love to do: They love to play.
Posted by Mike Lingenfelter, DC United Coach on February 25, 2011
During the 2010 season, United Soccer Club (USC) succeeded in getting urban Washington D.C. youth moving through soccer and living healthier lifestyles, while also making a connection to the environment. United Soccer Club is the signature program of United for D.C., the charitable arm of D.C United. The club was born out of a request from parents in the Ward 8 neighborhood of Washington D.C. They noted that while D.C. United’s soccer stadium was just minutes away, their children did not have access to learn or play the sport. Spawned from that request, United Soccer Club began teaching the game of soccer and important life skills to approximately 60 youth in 2007. Since that time the program has expanded to include over 700 youth throughout 12 sites around the city.
Posted by Jaime Torres, HHS Regional Director for New York and New Jersey & April Velasco, Acting Regional Health Administrator on February 25, 2011
We are delighted to report that a recent celebration of the first anniversary of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative in New York City, was a tremendous success!
Posted by Melisa Di Tano, Food and Nutrition Service, Western Region Nutritionist, U.S. Department of Agriculture on February 24, 2011
When First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the School Nutrition Association last year to promote her recently launched Let’s Move! Initiative, she mentioned Anji Baumann by name. Why? Anji was the first Food Service Director in the nation whose school, Gooding Elementary School, had achieved the HealthierUS School Challenge Gold of Distinction Award.
Posted by Herb K. Schultz, HHS Region IX Director (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Islands) on February 19, 2011
California's capitol city of Sacramento was the backdrop on February 8th for an exceptional and lively morning celebration on the one-year anniversary of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let's Move! Initiative.
Posted by Alicia Bell-Sheeter, Agricultural Communications Specialist, USDA AMS Farmers Market Promotion Program on February 18, 2011
Fresh, nutritious food is a cornerstone of a community’s physical health, but community health is more than physical well-being. A vibrant, healthy community encompasses both the well-being of consumers through improved health, and the well-being of producers through improved economic outcomes. Making this connection, and providing healthy, affordable food supplies, are goals of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative.
Posted by Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Public Engagement on February 17, 2011
February 9th, 2011 marked the 1-year anniversary of the launch of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative to reduce childhood obesity through encouraging healthier eating habits and regular exercise. Throughout the past year we have seen how seemingly-small modifications can add up to make a big difference in our everyday lives, as well as the lives of those around us. Every day, Americans are donning the hat of community organizer and doing their part to promote positive change in their communities, be it through education, entrepreneurship/job creation, health awareness, or vocational rehabilitation efforts.
One organization in particular is taking on all of the above. The Arthur and Friends Greenhouse Project of New Jersey is helping pave the way for social innovation and entrepreneurship in the disability community.
Posted by Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Public Engagement on February 17, 2011
In its first year, Let’s Move! taught us to pay attention to what we eat. We’ve learned that choosing a bowl of whole-grain cereal with non-fat milk over cheesy biscuits and bacon is a great way to kick off a healthy, energized day. We’ve realized that many times we are offered portions that are bigger than necessary, and we’ve tested delicious, perfectly-proportioned recipes to make at home. And, with the release of 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans last month, we were reminded that consuming less sodium, fats, added sugars and refined grains is essential to a healthy lifestyle. But, for millions of blind or visually impaired Americans, reading the nutrition information and cooking directions printed on the boxes, cans, jars, bottles and bags at the grocery store has been all but impossible---at least it was before the launch of directionsforme last month.
Posted by Alexia Kelley, Deputy Director at the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships on February 16, 2011
Leadership and great cookies are usually among the first things that come to mind when you think about the Girl Scouts, but last week at Johns Hopkins University’s DC campus, healthy eating, fitness and exercise were the focus of a lively town hall co-hosted by the Girl Scouts of the USA and Kraft Foods, celebrating the first birthday of Let’s Move!
Posted by Christie L. Hager, HHS Regional Director for Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island on February 16, 2011
On February 8th, I raised my butternut squash banana smoothie to Mayor Dale Pregent and Keene, New Hampshire on a snowy New England day, in celebration of the one-year anniversary of Let's Move!. Community health, spirit, and pride were front and center at the community recreation center in this town of just 22,000, between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Posted by Kacie O'Brien, MHS, Associate Program Specialist, Food and Nutrition Service, Western Region Special Nutrition Programs, USDA on February 15, 2011
On a sunny October morning at Columbia School in El Monte, California, Allen Ng, our Regional Administrator at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service presented El Monte City School District with the first HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) Awards in California since the Challenge joined the Let’s Move! initiative one year ago.
Posted by Robin Schepper, Executive Director of the Let's Move! on February 15, 2011
Last week was the first anniversary of Let's Move!, a comprehensive initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama that is dedicated to solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. You may have seen our post last week that included a video of schoolchildren singing in honor of the First Lady’s visit and a review of her remarks at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. We did a quick wrap-up video of all her travels around the anniversary. Check it out:
