Michelle Obama is the first lady who released childhood obesity action plan on Tuesday 11th may, 2010. In United States, the rate of childhood obesity has grown rapidly in recent years. There are plenty of data available that disclose the stunning fact that almost 60% of children in America are obesed children. In 2002, obesity statistics affirmed that 22% of US preschoolers were overweight. By showing this data, every one can imagine that childhood obesity is big problem right now. The number of children who are obese has tripled to 15% in last thirty years. Obesity is the easiest medical condition for recognition purpose but it is most difficult medical condition for treatment purpose.
Childhood obesity in America is on the rise due to lots of reasons. These reasons are complex and include genetic, biological, behavioral and cultural factors. When a person eats more calories than the body burns up, obesity takes place. The children have 50% chance of obesity if parents are obese. Certain medical disorders are also responsible for obesity. Childhood obesity can be related to poor eating habits, overeating, lack of exercise, family history of obesity, medications (steroids, some psychiatric medications), medical illnesses (endocrine, neurological problems), family and peer problems, low self-esteem, depression or other emotional problems, and stressful life events or changes.
Plan of Michelle Obama to End Childhood Obesity
The main goal of Michelle Obama is to bring obesity rates down to 5 percent by 2030. One within three American children is now overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer according to Mrs. Obama. Her report is entitled as “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation”. This report comes out of the Task Force on Childhood Obesity which was created by President Obama in February 2010.
Recommendations of Michelle Obama for anti-obesity campaign mainly focus on four key areas:
- Empower parents and caregivers
- Provide healthy food in schools
- Improve access to healthy, affordable food
- Increase physical activity
In a news release, Obama said, “For the first time, the nation will have goals, benchmarks, and measurable outcomes that will help us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic one child, one family, and one community at a time.” For action on childhood obesity plan, the full list details 70 recommendations which are not only at federal government level but also from local leaders, private businesses and parents as well. Most of these actions can be put into operation right away according to the report.
Fighting Childhood Obesity by Improving Access to Healthy Food:
11 recommendations are made by the White House plan for improving access to healthy foods. The Key elements are as under:
- Promote local governments to attract grocery stores to underserved neighborhoods.
- Promote facilities that serve children (e.g., hospitals, recreation centers, and parks) to promote healthy foods and beverages.
- Start a multi-agency “Healthy Food Financing Initiative” to make healthy foods more available in underserved urban and rural communities.
- Learn the effects of state and local sales taxes on calorie-dense foods.
- Assess the effect of targeted subsidies on purchases of healthy foods through nutrition assistance programs.
- Supply economic inducement to increase production of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Fighting Obesity in Early Childhood:
For early childhood, 12 recommendations are made by the White House plan. From these recommendations, some key elements are:
- The war on childhood obesity begins with pregnant moms. Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant should be informed about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight during conception and throughout pregnancy.
- New moms should be encouraged to breastfeed, and be given access to educational classes and breastfeeding support programs.
- Federal and state agencies should prioritize research into chemicals in the environment that may cause or worsen obesity.
- Improve federal early childhood programs’ child nutrition and physical activity practices.
- Educate and support parents in efforts to decrease kids’ screen time (i.e. less time watching television and using digital media and more time being physically active).
Fighting Childhood Obesity by Empowering Parents and Caregivers:
For empowering parents and caregivers, 13 recommendations are made by the White House plan. Some key elements from these recommendations are as follows:
- Restaurants should consider portion sizes, improve children’s menus, and offer healthier options whenever possible. Restaurants and vending machine operators should also be encouraged to display calorie counts immediately.
- Insurance plans should cover services needed to help prevent, assess, and care for child obesity.
- The food and beverage industry should extend its voluntary self-regulation to restrict all forms of marketing to children. If this does not happen, then federal regulation should be considered.
- The FDA and USDA should work with the food and beverage industry to develop standard nutrition labels for packages.
- The federal government should work with local communities to spread the word about the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the next generation of the food pyramid.
- Media and entertainment companies should limit licensing of popular characters to healthy food and beverage products.
- Pediatricians should routinely calculate children’s BMI and provide information to parents about how to help their children achieve a healthy weight.
Fighting Childhood Obesity by Improving School Foods:
For healthier food in schools, the White House plan made 17 recommendations. Some key elements are as under:
- Encourage schools to upgrade canteen equipment to support healthier foods. Example: Swap deep fryers for salad bars.
- Increase funding for school meals.
- Improve nutritional education in schools and make it more available.
- Encourage healthy behaviors in young correction facilities.
- Increase the use of school gardens to educate about healthy eating.
- Update federal standards for school meals and improve the nutritional quality of USDA foods provided to schools.
- Connect school meal programs to local growers and promote farm-to-school programs.
Fighting Childhood Obesity by Increasing Physical Activity:
For increasing physical activity of children, 17 recommendations are made by the White House plan. From these recommendations, some key elements are:
- Schools should promote recess for younger students and physical activity breaks for upper level grades.
- School programs should stress physical activity as much as healthy nutrition.
- State and local school programs should increase the quality and frequency of age-appropriate physical education taught by certified PE teachers.
- To extend the school day in order to offer physical activity programs, federal, state, and local agencies should partner with communities and businesses.
- Boost the number of safe playgrounds and parks, particularly in low-income communities.
- Promote entertainment and technology companies to continue developing new ways to engage kids in physical activity.
- The EPA should help communities building new schools to place them on websites that encourage walking or biking to school.
To lower childhood obesity rates within a single generation, Mrs. Obama also activists establishing new goals for decreasing added sugar in processed food, and increasing kids’ fruit and vegetable utilization. Nowadays, 46 percent of the recommended daily amounts of veggies and 64 percent of the recommended amount of fruits are eaten by the average American child. Mrs. Obama said, “We will know that we are moving towards success by getting kids to eat better and exercise more“.
First lady discusses plan to end childhood obesity video from Youtube:
Video of the First Lady Unveils Childhood Obesity Task Force Action Plan from Youtube:
As we continue to grapple with Obesity a question that is not getting too much attention is the role Alternative systems of medicine like Ayurveda can play in controlling / curing Obesity. A system based on Nature can not be all that bad :-)
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