White House Task Force Outlines Guidance for Curbing Child Obesity

On Tuesday, First lady Michelle Obama presented the results of the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity report, which outlined 70 recommendations in five categories that could help reduce childhood obesity rates in the U.S., the Washington Post reports.

The task force was created as part of Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, which launched in February and aims to lower the country's childhood obesity rate from its current 20% to 5% in 2030 (Givhan, Washington Post, 5/12).

The report was based on 2,500 public comments and suggestions from 12 federal agencies, including HHS and the departments of Agriculture, Defense and Education (Hellmich, USA Today, 5/11).

Recommendations

The recommendations focus on:

• Prenatal care;
• Providing parents with nutritional information;
• Fostering community support systems;
• Providing healthier school food options;
• Increasing access to healthy foods in indigent urban and rural areas; and
• Promoting physical activity (Washington Post, 5/12).

The report also recommended that:

• The food and beverage industry more aggressively advertise healthy foods;
• The federal government increase economic incentives for fruit, vegetable and whole grain production;
• Communities work together to increase the number of parks and playgrounds in low-income neighborhoods;
• The federal government and local communities disseminate 2010 Dietary Guideline information (USA Today, 5/11); and
• Women maintain a healthy weight while pregnant and breastfeed their children (Superville, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/11).

Obama said the report creates "a very solid road map that we need to make these goals real, to solve this problem within a generation" (Talev, Sacramento Bee, 5/12).

Legislation

The report's recommendations are advisory. However, Congress currently is considering legislation (S 3307) that would allocate $4.5 billion over 10 years for nutrition programs (AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/11).