White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President
Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation
Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.
As part of this effort, President Barack Obama established the first-ever Task Force on Childhood Obesity to develop and implement an inter-agency plan that details a coordinated strategy, identifies key benchmarks, and outlines an action plan to end the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. The goal of the action plan is to reduce the childhood obesity rate to just five percent by 2030 – the same rate before childhood obesity first began to rise in the late 1970s. In total, the report presents a series of 70 specific recommendations, many of which can be implemented right away.
UPDATE: In February 2011, the Domestic Policy Council submitted a report to the President discussing the progress of the recommendations in the Task Force report outlined below.
White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT
Letter to the President from Melody Barnes, Chair of the Task Force on Childhood Obesity and Director of the Domestic Policy Council
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THE CHALLENGE WE FACE
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I. EARLY CHILDHOOD
This chapter provides recommendations for reducing the risk of obesity in the early years of a child's life and includes sections:
A. Prenatal Care
B. Breastfeeding
C. Chemical Exposures
D. Screen Time
E. Early Care and Education.
II. EMPOWERING PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS
This chapter describes current and proposed initiatives to empower parents and caregivers and includes sections:
A. Making Nutrition Information Useful
B. Food Marketing
C. Health Care Services.
III. HEALTHY FOOD IN SCHOOLS
This chapter outlines a range of actions that families, communities, businesses, and governments at all levels can take to improve school foods and the school nutrition environment so they support and foster healthier food choices and help reduce childhood obesity. This chapter includes sections:
A. Quality School Meals
B. Other Foods in Schools
C. Food-Related Factors in the School Environment
D. Food in Other Institutions.
IV. ACCESS TO HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE FOOD
This chapter recommends a comprehensive approach that builds on a promising start to mobilize public and private sector resources to make the healthy choice the easy choice for all Americans. This chapter includes sections:
A. Physical Access to Healthy Food
B. Food Pricing
C. Product Formulation
D. Hunger and Obesity.
V. INCREASING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
This chapter details what can be done to increase children's physical activity levels and includes sections:
A. School-Based Approaches
B. Expanded Day and Afterschool Activities
C. The "Built Environment"
D. Community Recreation Venues.
CONCLUSION
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SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
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ENDNOTES
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