The First Lady revels a year of progress of Let’s Move! initiative over a few celery sticks and yogurt cups
Fran Holuba
Since it’s launch on February 9th, 2010, Let’s Move! has been changing the way we think about healthy living, or more importantly the way our children think about healthy living. This national awareness campaign is about combating the mindset that has allowed childhood obesity to permeate our lives, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities.
Our attitudes about nutrition and physical fitness, as a Nation, just weren’t cutting it for the First Lady, who saw first hand how difficult it can be for a mom to ensure her children are staying active and eating healthy. To mark the first anniversary of Let’s Move!, Mrs. Obama spoke at North Point Community Church and Ray of Hope Christian Church at North Point’s congregation in Alpharetta, GA. Her message was clear to the parents and communities working hard to ensure their children are practicing healthy habits. Get out there and do something. She told the crowd, “We need to ask ourselves, ‘What can I do, through my workplace, my place of worship, my organization, to help kids in my community lead healthier lives.”
MICHELLE OBAMA TALKS FIRST YEAR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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The Let’s Move! year one accomplishments are impressive and vary in approach. From the White House fact sheet, these accomplishments include:
Supporting Healthy Schools
- The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a groundbreaking piece of legislation, was signed into law so all kids have healthier food in school as well as access to a healthy lunch.
- A coalition of the Fruit and Vegetable Alliance, the Food, Family and Farming Foundation and the United Fresh Produce Association have committed over the next three years to put 6,000 salad bars in schools across the country, making fresh vegetables a more accessible choice for children.
Making Healthy Foods Accessible and Affordable
- Parents are demanding better food choices and Let’s Move! is working with businesses to meet the challenge. Examples of this include Walmart’s Nutrition Charter that is designed to bring healthier and more affordable foods to the 140 million customers that shop at their stores each week, and the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation pledging to reduce annual calories by 1.5 trillion within the next five years.
Increasing Physical Activity
- Let’s Move! is working towards the goal of one million Americans earning the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) by September 2011. Organizations across the country are helping meet the goal: the National Football League (NFL) alone is signing up 200,000 kids.
- Teaming up with Let’s Move!, Disney, the National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) are spreading the word through public service announcements (PSAs) airing nationwide. Through this outreach, kids are inspired by their favorite actors and athletes to play sports and get active.
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First Lady Michelle Obama also revealed a snazzy new Let’s Move! This PSA campaign will reach 33,000 media outlets to help provide better information to parents and families about health and nutrition. Ramping up awareness alongside the efforts of the various sectors and stepping up to the challenge against childhood obesity has the First Lady celebrating year one of hard work shaking off those pesky unhealthy habits. Happy anniversary Let’s Move!, keep up the hard work!
“One year later, Let’s Move! is far more than just a campaign. It is so much more than just a slogan. It’s a nationwide movement to give our kids everything they need – all the energy, strength and opportunities they need to fulfill every last bit of their potential and achieve every last one of their dreams,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.
