AHA’s Recommendations to the Childhood Obesity Task Force

The American Heart Association was asked to provide expert recommendations to support President Barack Obama’s Childhood Obesity Task Force action plan: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation. The report, which came out in May and is a key part of the first lady’s “Let’s Move Campaign,” calls for a united effort to ensure the nation’s children have the resources they need for a healthy future. The association outlined four key objectives in the report, including federal, state and local efforts to ensure access to healthy, affordable food; increased physical activity in schools and communities; healthier foods in schools; and the empowering of parents with information and tools to make good choices for their families. In particular, the association stressed the need to address health inequities by reaching vulnerable communities and urged the task force to establish key benchmarks such as body mass index to measure progress. As the first lady and the Obama administration move forward to implement the new interagency plan, the association will continue to do its part to support the effort.