Michelle Obama Announces Renewed Focus On Physical Fitness For Let's Move! Campaign

Combating a "crisis of inactivity" in America's children: In the year ahead, First Lady will unveil new tools and new partnerships designed to "redefine" the idea of play...
First Lady Michelle Obama announced a fundamental shift in the Let's Move! campaign as she gave the keynote address on Wednesday morning at Partnership for a Healthier America's "Building a Healthier Future Summit." Held over two days in Washington, DC, the event was the first obesity conference from the non-profit foundation created to support the Let's Move! campaign.  More than 800 stakeholders, from the public and private sector, academia, and the medical community attended. (Above: Mrs. Obama, honorary chair of the foundation, meets with the board before her speech)

During remarks in the ballroom of the Omni hotel, Mrs. Obama said that over the next year, her national initiative will have a renewed focus on physical fitness, sports, and active play, to combat what she called "the crisis of inactivity that we see among our kids."

"The fact is that, today, we may well be raising the most sedentary generation of kids in the history of this country," Mrs. Obama said. "We as a society need to redefine for kids what play is."

Getting children to be more physically active should be much easier than getting them to eat healthy foods, Mrs. Obama said, a major focus of Let's Move!, and the raison d'etre for the very public role of Sam Kass, her Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, as well as for her Kitchen Garden.

"This isn’t forcing them to eat their vegetables," Mrs. Obama said.  "It’s getting them to go out there and have fun."

In the year ahead, the Let's Move! campaign will be unveiling "wonderful new tools and information for parents," it will continue promoting the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, and continue a community-level focus, through Mayors, on improving access to physical activity opportunities, the First Lady said. It can all be done without "spending a dime," she said.

"We as a society need to make physical activity a part of our kids’ daily lives again, and we need to do it in a way that is easy, affordable and fun -- not just for kids but for parents."

Mrs. Obama has repeatedly called on the food and beverage industry to rethink its practices, especially in relation to children.  On Wednesday she did the same for those involved in creating entertainment and activity products for children, challenging corporations and non-profits--and parents and schools--to focus on ways to get kids moving. She asked America to re-define the idea of "play" for children, and to shift to a more active paradigm that doesn't include video games and other passive entertainment as a standard practice.

Toys, she said, should inspire kids to move.  Schools should encourage recess and PE.  Communities should improve access to public lands, such as parks, to make them more user-friendly.

"If we can get major grocery chains to build supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods, if we can get major restaurant chains to improve their menus and food manufacturers to offer better choices, then I am confident that we can get our kids up and playing just a little bit more," Mrs. Obama said.

Mrs. Obama's major wins for Let's Move! in 2011 included commitments from grocery chains, including Walmart, to build markets in food deserts, and getting America's largest chain of eateries, Darden Restaurants, Inc., to commit to making its menus healthier.

The First Lady pointed out that she has done everything possible to inspire Americans to become more physically active, and played a video of herself in action, at home and abroad--doing push ups with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Africa, running around a US school with Mrs. Margarita Zavala, First Lady of Mexico, playing ping pong with Nickelodeon boy band Big Time Rush in the White House.

"As you can see, I’m pretty much willing to make a complete fool out of myself to get our kids moving," she said, to laughter. "There’s a reason why I’ve been out there jumping rope and hula hooping and dancing to Beyoncé, whatever it takes. It’s because I want kids to see that there are all kinds of ways to be active. And if I can do it, anybody can do it."

Mrs. Obama's campaign has already received the support of many of the major US sports leagues, including the NFL, the NBA, US Soccer, US tennis, hockey, and even NASCAR. Beyonce's "Move Your Body" dance video for the campaign, released in April of 2011, has gotten more than 14.7 million hits on YouTube.  This Fall, she announced a Let's Move! milestone: 1.7 million people in the last year completed the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge.

"We’re going to keep working with schools to increase activity during the day. We’re going to work with sports leagues and celebrities and businesses to inspire our kids to get active," Mrs. Obama said, adding that faith-based organizations will be vital to the new push, too.

Let's Move Faith and Communities, a sub-component of the campaign, has enrolled religious organizations from a panoply of faiths, as well as community groups, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, into the campaign, to focus their considerable resources on child health.

"Together, I am confident that we will solve this problem," Mrs. Obama said, and pointed to the fact that it will impact generations of children in the years ahead.

"We still have a long way to go, yes. But all of you and all that you’ve done are a testament to what we can achieve with enough passion, determination and inspiration and a little imagination. So I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep moving. Let’s keep moving forward."

Despite the First Lady's announcement of the renewed focus on physical activity for the campaign, the summit also featured a focus on healthy food.  A team of James Beard Award-winning chefs cooked a lunch and dinner for attendees using what was deemed a Food Stamps budget, $4.50 per person.  On Tuesday evening, Kass emceed a cooking showcase, featuring Top Chef host Tom Colicchio and three other Beard awardees.  It was designed to demonstrate that a family of four can easily cook and then eat a healthy "gourmet" meal on a Food Stamps budget--just $10.  But one six-year-old judge spent his time on the competition stage spitting out the offerings of the acclaimed chefs, brutally illustrating how far the Let's Move! campaign has to go to fulfill the mantra of the summit, "making the healthier choice the easier choice."

Led by chairman Dr. James R. Gavin III, Partnership for a Healthier America has locked down a series of major commitments from the private sector since it was created in February of 2010, including those from Walmart and Darden. New commitments announced during the summit for the Let's Move! campaign are here, and include Hyatt Hotels and Resorts pledging to change their menu offerings across their venues, as well as a commitment from Kaiser Permanente to make 29 hospitals "Baby Friendly," with a dedicated focus on encouraging breast feeding.

*The full transcript of Mrs. Obama's remarks is here.

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The Y.M.C.A announces a new commitment...
Mrs. Obama was introduced before her remarks by 14-year-old Kayla Brathwaite, who represents Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York. The national organization is one of the largest childcare providers in the US, and announced on Wednesday that it is adopting "healthy living standards" for all its facilities. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Kayla)

These standards will be voluntary, but include offering fruit, vegetables and water (rather than soda or sugary beverages) at snack/meal time, increasing the amount of exercise opportunities offered to children, and limiting video games and television in its childcare programs.

About 700,000 children are enrolled in after school and summer programs at Ys in the US, and the new initiative was developed in consultation with PHA and the White House. A spokesman for the Y said that about 85% of chapters, which are run by state organizations, are expected to adopt the guidelines.

They are similar to guidelines adopted by Bright Horizons, the nation's second-largest childcare provider, with about 70,000 children at 600 centers across the US. The company announced its commitment when Mrs. Obama launched Let's Move Child Care in June of 2011. It was a sponsor of the summit, as were Walgreens and Walmart, two of the grocery corporations that have commited to building markets in food deserts.

*In top photo, PHA chairman James R. Gavin III is at the First Lady's left, and on her right is Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a vice-chair. Photo by Lawrence Jackson/White House; second by Y.M.C.A of Greater New York

Top Chefs Get Trumped By Kid Critic At Great American Family Dinner Challenge

Six-year-old judge gives thumbs-down to healthy foods at Let's Move! cooking showcase...
First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to get kids to eat healthy food has a long way to go. A little boy judging a cooking battle on Tuesday night, designed to promote the Let's Move! campaign, repeatedly spit out bites of his meal, which was created by Top Chef host Tom Colicchio and 3 other James Beard Award-winning chefs. Austin Jackson, the six-year-old judge from Toledo, Ohio, gave the dishes made by some of the country's best chefs the lowest possible scores as White House Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass, emcee for The Great American Family Dinner Challenge, made light of the situation to an audience of hundreds. (Above: Kass speaks to the audience after Austin spits out his dinner; the child's mom, Kim Mrkva, looks on)

"Let’s give it up for Kim, this boy’s mother," Kass said. "She clearly has her hands full."

The crowd of anti-obesity activists filling the ballroom in DC's Omni Shoreham hotel laughed and applauded. Kass--and the other White House chefs--have often said that kids are the toughest "customers" to please, and Austin spent his time onstage being both very displeased, and very honest. He didn't like the food, and had no qualms about getting it out of his mouth as fast as possible.

Frowny face: The worst scores...
Austin spit out bites of each successive dish he was served as the audience watched on two forty-foot video monitors. The laughter grew as the acclaimed chefs reacted with mock horror when the boy circled frowning faces on his score sheet, awarding the worst scores. (Above: Kass and the other six-year-old judge, Jeshua Ferro, watch Colicchio cook)

"These are recipes that families can actually use," Kass had announced as the contest started. The recipes had been pre-vetted before the contest by two nutritionists who were introduced to the crowd. The showcase battle was the capper to the first day of a national childhood obesity summit from Partnership for a Healthier America, the non-profit that supports Mrs. Obama's campaign. She gave the keynote address on Wednesday.

Austin and his mom sat beside the other family selected to judge the contest--Antonio Ferro and Laura Castillo, and their six-year-old Jeshua Ferro--onstage at a dinner table, and were personally served by the chefs, who created their three-course dinners with just $10 of ingredients--a budget a family on Food Stamps would use. The teams had 30 minutes to work in two gleaming cooking stations.

No lover of a frisee salad with avocado and shallot dressing and glazed chicken thighs with sauteed fennel, garlic, mint, chives and parsley created by the chef-team of Boston's Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger restaurant and Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, WA, Austin spit his bites into his napkin. He also unceremoniously spat out a shaved carrot and apple salad from Colicchio and teammate Maria Hines of Tilth restaurant in Seattle, as well as their orange Jell-O and buttermilk panna cotta dessert. (Above: Kass holds up a scoring sheet with smiley and frowny faces, and Austin assures him he wants the frowny faces)

Colicchio defended the dessert.

“I got two young kids at home,” he said. “I’ll stand behind the instant Jell-O and buttermilk panna cotta anyday, thank you very much.”

The boy looked dubious as Tsai presented him with a yogurt parfait with cinnamon-covered cashews on top. "It's vanilla ice cream with rock sugar," Tsai joked. (Above: Kass cheers and his mom claps as Austin gives one dish a score that wasn't the lowest possible; Tsai is at right, and the other family judges look on)

Despite comedic pleas from Kass and the chefs, Austin wanted nothing to do with the healthy dishes, though he seemed to like--or at least tolerate--a beef and broccoli dish offered by Team Colicchio. The Ferro/Castillo family, from Silver Spring, Maryland, ate their meal with no spitting action. Both families were selected as judges after winning a sweepstakes from Parents and Ser Padres magazines, co-sponsors of the event.

After Austin gave the thumbs down to his dishes, Tsai ran back to his cooking station and grabbed a huge knife and pretended he was going to stab himself, much to the audience's further amusement (above).

The chefs had used only the kind of equipment that a family might have: A toaster, a blender, a microwave, and a regular oven. At a press conference before the event, Kass and the chefs spoke of the importance of cooking healthy foods for kids, starting as early as possible to ensure children will develop a lifelong love affair with vegetables.

"Throw enough garlic and scallions on...and kids will love" whatever is cooked, Tsai told reporters. Apparently the theory does not have uniform applications.

"America's chefs are at the center of the most important battle to change the future," Kass said.

Colicchio and Hines won the competition, scoring 94 points to Tsai and Smith's 85. Colicchio has visited the White House, and is a big supporter of the Let's Move! campaign. Last year, Kass appeared on a special episode of Top Chef devoted to school lunches. The three other chefs all said they work in their communities on healthy eating initiatives, too. (Above: Colicchio and Hines at work; he's plating the dessert that Austin spit out)

Walmart provided the two competition kitchens, and All-Clad provided the cookware. The two families would be taking it home, but perhaps Austin's family will use it for something other than cooking. Both corporations are partners for the Let's Move! campaign.

The audience had their own dinner cooked by James Beard Award-winning chefs Anne Quatrano, Floyd Cardoz, Koren Grieveson, and Michel Nischan before the showcase.

Those dishes were also supposed to be budget-friendly and delicious: Each three-course meal cost just $4.50 per person. No spitting was observed, but some of the dishes were much better than others. (Above: Tsai plates his yogurt parfait)

*A post about Mrs. Obama's keynote address to the summit is here.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

Transcript: First Lady's Remarks, PHA's Building A Healthier Future Summit

First Lady Michelle Obama gave the keynote address on Wednesday morning at Partnership for a Healthier America's inaugural Building a Healthier Future Summit, held in Washington, DC. She called on America to "redefine the idea of play," and inspire children to become physically active. A full post is here.

New commitments announced during the summit for the Let's Move! campaign are here. On Tuesday evening, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass emceed a cooking showcase designed to highlight healthy affordable eating on a Food Stamps budget.

The summit was the first of its kind from the non-profit created to support the Let's Move! campaign, and brought together the foundation's leadership with more than 800 stakeholders from across the US. Mrs. Obama was introduced before her remarks by 14-year-old Kayla Brathwaite from YMCA of Greater New York (Above: Mrs. Obama hugs Brathwaite)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the First Lady

_______________________________________________

For Immediate Release
November 30, 2011

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY
AT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA’S
INAUGURAL BUILDING A HEALTHIER FUTURE SUMMIT

Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, D.C.

11:52 A.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Please, please. (Applause.) Well, thank you all so much. Please, please, rest yourselves. I understand you’ve been working hard over these last couple of days. (Laughter.)

It is such a tremendous pleasure and an honor to be here with all of you today. I want to start by thanking Kayla, not just for that very kind introduction, but for her work. I mean, we should all be like Kayla, right? That’s what we’re trying to do. Kayla, we are so proud of you. Let’s give Kayla a wonderful round of applause. (Applause.)

That’s why we’re all here, right? It’s because of Kayla.

I also want to recognize Senator Bill Frist, Mayor Corey Booker, who have just been phenomenal Partnership for a Healthier America co-chairs. They’ve been terrific.

I also have to recognize my dear friend, Jim Gavin, who’s the chair of the board, as well as Larry Soler, the CEO. They have just been tremendous.

PHA is truly a driving force behind so much of the progress that we’ve made on behalf of our children. And I am thrilled about the commitments they’ve announced today from organizations like the YMCA, Hyatt Hotels and so many others. So I also want us to take some time to give all of them a round of applause. (Applause.)

And finally, I want to thank all of you -– all of you here today: the advocates, the activists, the business leaders and the experts who have been leading the charge for years to help our kids lead healthier lives.

And I know that what you all do isn’t easy. And I have to be honest, when I first decided to focus on the issue of childhood obesity, in the back of my mind I wondered whether it was really possible to make a difference. I knew the conventional wisdom on the issue -– particularly when it comes to changing how and what our kids eat.

There’s the assumption that kids don’t like healthy food, so why should we bother trying to feed it to them. There’s the belief that healthy food doesn’t sell so well, so companies will never change the products they offer. There’s the sense that this problem is so big, and so entrenched, that no matter what we do, we’ll never be able to solve it.

But because of folks like all of you, over the past couple of years, we have begun to see a fundamental change in the conversation in this country about how we feed our kids. Since we launched “Let’s Move,” folks from every sector of society have been stepping up to help our kids lead healthier lives.

Major food manufacturers are cutting sugar, salt and fat from their products. Restaurants are revamping kids’ menus and loading them with healthier, fresher options. Companies like Walgreens, SuperValu, Walmart, Calhoun’s Grocery are committing to build new stores and to sell fresh food in underserved communities all across this country.

Congress passed historic legislation to provide more nutritious school meals to millions of American children. Our schools are growing gardens all over the place. Cities and towns are opening farmers markets. Congregations are holding summer nutrition programs for their kids. Parents are reading those food labels, and they’re rethinking the meals and the snacks that they serve their kids.

So while we still have a long way to go, we have seen so much good progress. We’ve begun to have an impact on how, and what, our kids are eating every single day. And that is so important. It’s so important.

But it’s not enough. There is still more to do. Because we all know that the problem isn’t just what’s happening at meal time or at snack time. It’s also about how our kids are spending the rest of their time each and every day.

It’s about how active our kids are. And that’s what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about the crisis of inactivity that we see among our kids, and what each of us can do to start solving that problem.

The fact is that, today, we may well be raising the most sedentary generation of kids in the history of this country. Kids today reportedly spend an average of seven and a half hours a day watching TV, playing with cell phones, computer games, video games. Only one-quarter of kids play outside each day -- one-quarter of our kids play outside. And that’s compared to three-quarters of kids just a generation ago. And only 18 percent of high school students get the recommended one hour of physical activity a day.

And all of us know, we being of a certain generation, that it wasn’t always like this. Many of you probably grew up just like I did. Back then -- way back then, way before Kayla was even a thought in anybody’s eye -- (laughter) -- remember how we would walk to school every day? You would get to school and then you’d run around the playground before the bell rang. You’d get to school early just to run around before the bell rang.

Then just a couple of hours later, we were back outside for recess -- more running around. And then after lunch, we had another recess, and then all of us, we all had regular P.E. classes. And then once you got out of school, if you didn’t have homework, we spent hours riding bikes, jumping rope, playing ball, playing tag. And you didn’t come home until dinner was ready. And if your mother was anything like mine, she’d send you right back out. (Laughter.)

Back then, kids were constantly in motion. We rarely went more than a few hours without engaging in some kind of heart-pounding, sweat-inducing, active play.

And that’s an important word: play.

Back then, play meant physical activity. Sitting around watching TV didn’t count as playing. Lounging around the house with your friends was not playing. Back then, playing actually meant moving your body.

And today, we have an entirely different idea of what constitutes “play.” These days, for many kids, play has become a fully sedentary activity. Then urban sprawl and fears about safety often mean the only walking our kids do is out the front door to a bus or a car.

And cuts in recess, gym and sports programs mean a whole lot less running around during the school day. Only half of our young people in this country have playgrounds or parks, activity centers, walking paths or sidewalks available in their neighborhoods -- only half of our kids in this country.

And today, fewer than 4 percent of elementary schools, fewer than 8 percent of middle and junior high schools, and only about 2 percent of high schools even offer daily P.E. classes. That’s what’s going on. And with the rise of the Internet and 24/7 cable TV, there is always an opportunity to be entertained by something on a screen.

Kids today can watch pretty much any show any time they want, day or night. That wasn’t the case when we were growing up. You had seven channels. (Laughter.) You had about three hours of cartoons and it was over. (Laughter.) But all of that is just too hard for kids to resist.

But the fact is that kids’ bodies simply are not built for that kind of sedentary lifestyle. For them, physical activity is critical. We all know that. It’s critical for building healthy bones and muscles. It’s critical for maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol. And it’s critical for controlling anxiety and stress. And when our kids aren’t active, we see the results in rising obesity and conditions like diabetes that used to only be seen in adults, and conditions that we all know are costly to treat.

We see it in our schools, where overweight and obese kids are more likely to miss more than two weeks of school during an academic year. And we know that when kids stay home from school, what does that mean? Oftentimes parents stay home from work. And for those of you from the business world, you know that all those missed days can really have an impact on your bottom line. There’s also evidence that physical activity may affect academic performance.

And believe it or not, we even see the effects in our military. And I know that Bill Frist was here and he talked a bit about this as well, but right now, nearly 27 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds are too overweight to serve in our military. And at one Army base that I visited, I learned that the recruits they see today are kids who were born back when public schools across the country started cutting physical education and sports. These are the kids who are the product of those cuts.

So after years of inactivity and poor nutrition, many are overweight, many are out of shape, and they’re more likely to injure themselves in basic training. This is what the General told me. So the Army is now spending millions of additional dollars a year in medical and dental costs just to get trainees combat-ready.

So when we’re talking about getting kids running around and playing again, it is important to understand that this isn’t just about fun and games. This isn’t a joke. It’s about their health. It’s about their success in school. It’s about our economy. It’s about our national security.

But as parents -- and I know there are many parents in this room -- we don’t need statistics to tell us that something is wrong. We know our kids aren’t as active as they should be. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know that we bear some responsibility for that. Because so many parents today are juggling a million things at once.

They’re working full-time while raising kids. Many are caring for aging parents. Many are struggling to just pay the bills. And much as we all hate to admit it, sometimes, on those Saturday afternoons when the kids are complaining that they’re bored, sometimes it’s just easier to give them permission to go watch TV, right? I did that last weekend. (Laughter.) And we know that’s not good.

We know we need to do things differently -- not just as parents, but as a society. We as a society need to redefine for our kids what play is. We as a society need to make physical activity a part of our kids’ daily lives again, and we need to do it in a way that is easy, affordable and fun -- not just for kids but for parents.

And when I say “we as a society,” I mean that every single one of us has a role to play. Because we know that the solution on this one is not going to come because government is going to tell people what to do. It’s about each of us taking responsibility, making a difference however we can.

So today, I want to call on all of you, and folks all across the country, to just step back and ask yourselves, “What more can I do to help our kids lead more active and healthy lives?” I want you to ask yourselves what you can do to invest, or to innovate, or to inspire our kids to get out there and play again.

And when I say invest, I don’t just mean money. I also mean time, and energy, and passion. I’m talking about schools that have started running clubs and fitness competitions; schools that are working physical activity into classes ranging from music to math. I’m talking about communities keeping the high school gym open on weekends or organizing volunteers to refurbish parks and playgrounds.

I’m talking about faith leaders who are starting exercise ministries for families in their congregations. I’m talking about businesses sponsoring youth sports leagues and helping their employees get active. Because we know that when mom or dad starts getting in shape at work, that can have an impact on other members of the family at home.

And when I say innovate, I’m talking about new ideas and new technologies. I’m talking about developing new toys that require active play; new video games that get kids moving their entire bodies, not just their thumbs, right? New playground equipment that gets kids running and jumping and climbing.

And finally, when I say inspire, I’m talking about all of us serving as role models for our kids -- all of us. Our pediatricians urging kids to keep active; educators teaching kids about nutrition; folks in the sports, media and entertainment industries promoting physical activity, and making playing cool again -- making playing cool again.

I want to emphasize that last point -- the importance of really promoting physical activity to our kids. Think for a minute of all the things we get our kids to do each day. It shouldn’t be so hard to get them to run around and play, right? This isn’t forcing them to eat their vegetables. (Laughter.) It’s getting them to go out there and have fun.

And now, I just want to divert a little bit because I now have a quick video for you -- I don’t do this a lot -- to help illustrate my point. So take it away.

(The video is played.)

That’s Bishop Tutu. (Laughter.)

That’s the First Lady of Mexico. (Laughter.)

Big-time rush. (Laughter.) Very cute. (Laughter and applause.)

So as you can see, I’m pretty much willing to make a complete fool out of myself to get our kids moving. (Laughter.) But there is a method to my madness. There’s a reason why I’ve been out there jumping rope and hula hooping and dancing to Beyoncé, whatever it takes. (Laughter.) It’s because I want kids to see that there are all kinds of ways to be active. And if I can do it, anybody can do it.

I want them to understand that being active can be fun, because we know that we as adults and as parents, we are our kids’ first and best role models. As much as they don’t act like they’re listening to us, they really are. And we can’t tell them to run around outside when we’re lying on the couch watching TV. So we need to get ourselves active and we need to take our kids with us.

And we don’t need any kind of fancy equipment or uniforms. That’s the other point. It can be as simple as going for a walk together or just turning on the radio and dancing around in the living room. And ultimately, that’s what gives me such hope around this issue, the fact that at this very moment, each of us -- each of us already has the power to start solving this problem for ourselves in our own homes, in our own communities, without spending a single dime.

And if we can get major grocery chains to build supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods, if we can get major restaurant chains to improve their menus and food manufacturers to offer better choices, then I am confident that we can get our kids up and playing just a little bit more. I know this is something we can do, because the truth is that kids want to be active. They want it so desperately from the time they’re little. They want to move. They want to explore. They want to run and skip and learn new skills.

So it’s up to all of us to tap into that innate desire for active play. And that’s exactly what we’ll be doing in the coming months through “Let’s Move” and the Partnership for a Healthier America. We will be offering wonderful new tools and information for parents to figure out how they can start getting their kids on track. We’ll continue promoting our President’s Active Lifestyle Award to help kids to take charge and build healthy habits. And so far, more than 1 million kids have earned this award by exercising an hour a day, five days a week for six consecutive weeks.

We’re going to keep working with our mayors to get them to improve access to play in their communities. We’re going to keep working with schools to increase activity during the day, during the school day. We’re going to work with sports leagues and celebrities and businesses to inspire our kids to get active, and so much more.

Every step we take can make such a difference in our kids’ lives. And I have the good fortune of seeing that week after week in the letters that I get. I get so many letters from kids all across the country who are excited about “Let’s Move” and they’re eager to share their stories.

One of those letters that really stood out for me came from a young woman named Samantha. And Samantha is 15 years old and, for a long time, she shared with me that she struggled with her weight. She was diagnosed with asthma and was in danger of developing diabetes. But finally, Samantha took charge and she reached out to an adult that she trusted. It happened to be her health teacher. And together, she shared with me how they developed a plan to help Samantha get healthy.

And she told me that she started small. She started watching what she ate. She joined a softball team and a cardio club at her school. And she said that as she got healthier, she gained more confidence. And in her letter, she told me that she’s been so successful that other people have actually asked her to help them get fit and healthy.

And all it took for Samantha was one caring adult and a couple of opportunities for active play, and this young woman was able to regain control of her health. So just imagine if we could have that kind of impact in every school and every community in America. And just imagine how many of our kids we could help. Imagine how many lives we would transform.

And like anything, this is not going to be easy and it will not happen overnight. This is going to be an ongoing process, one that will unfold over generations. And that is why the Partnership for a Healthier America is so critical. It has just been at the core of everything we do.

You see, I’m not going to be here forever and neither are any of you. And I want to make sure that the work that we’ve begun and the progress we’ve made will continue not just for the length of this administration, but until the problem is solved. And that is PHA’s mission.

And if we succeed, we won’t just raise this generation of children to be healthier adults. You see, what you all understand is that when we instill healthy habits in our kids today, when we teach them to eat well and stay active today, that affects how they’ll raise their own children years from now. That affects the habits that they’ll teach them and the food they’ll feed them and how healthy all of our grandkids will be. And that can continue on throughout the generations.

That’s what we’re doing here. We’re impacting generations. That is the kind of impact we can have, one that will last long after all of us are gone. So that’s why I keep traveling around the country, shining a spotlight on programs that are making a difference for our kids. And as you saw in that video, I will try just about anything to inspire kids to be active. And I am looking for real partners in that effort, I really am.

So if any of you come up with good ideas and you can translate them into effective programs, I will be there to dance, to jump, to throw, to kick -- whatever you can imagine as long as it passes security approval. (Laughter.) But I will be there with you to help highlight that work.

And together, I am confident that we will solve this problem. You see, I may have started out my remarks today talking about the doubts I had when we first launched “Let’s Move.” But I think the last couple of years have shown us that we live in a country where we care deeply about our kids. We do, and that is such a beautiful thing to see.

And when we educate people about this issue, they want to step up. They want to make a difference. And if you have any doubts about that, if any of you have any doubts about what we as a country can accomplish when we really put our minds to it just look at what we’ve done these past couple of years. Just look at what all of you have done. Just look around this room at the leaders from all across the country, from every sector of society. We couldn’t have imagined this room would exist today just a year ago.

We still have a long way to go, yes. But all of you and all that you’ve done are a testament to what we can achieve with enough passion, determination and inspiration and a little imagination. So I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep moving. Let’s keep moving forward. I am so proud of the work that all of you have done. And I truly look forward to all that we’re going to accomplish in the months and years ahead.

Congratulations. Congratulations, PHA. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you all and God bless.

END 12:19 P.M. EST
##

*Photo by YMCA of Greater New York

Partnership For A Healthier America Announces New Commitments For Let's Move! Campaign

Hyatt Hotels will change menu offerings; Kaiser Permanent will spotlight breastfeeding; The Fresh Grocer will build markets in food deserts; Kellogg Foundation commits $3 million; "Healthy Kids Out of School" initiative launched...
Update: Click here for a post about Mrs. Obama's keynote address
On Tuesday morning in Washington, DC, at the inaugural national childhood obesity summit from Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), chairman James R. Gavin III announced new corporate commitments from Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Kaiser Permanente and The Fresh Grocer to support First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign. More than 800 participants attended the first day of the "Building a Healthier America" summit, which featured a morning address from both Newark's Mayor Cory Booker and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist (R-TN), honorary vice-chairs of PHA. (Above: Gavin during his remarks)

PHA is the non-profit responsible for managing and monitoring the Let's Move! commitments from private sector partners, including the pledges from Walmart and other grocers to build stores in food deserts, and from national chain Darden Restaurants to revamp its menu offerings. Mrs. Obama serves as PHA's honorary chairwoman, and will give the keynote address on Wednesday at the summit.

Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass was on hand Tuesday as the conference began at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, as was Let's Move! Executive Director Dr. Judy Palfrey, mingling with participants. Kass emceed "The Great American Family Dinner Challenge" on Tuesday night. (Above: Kass with an executive from Kaiser Permanente)

Choice architecture: "Indulgences will continue to be offered"
The mantra from PHA is "making the healthier choice the easier choice," and the Partnership is devoted to encouraging changes both large and small from private sector and non-profit participants who join the national campaign to end childhood obesity. The collective commitments have the potential to reach "tens of millions" citizens, according to Gavin. He announced that Hyatt's commitment will reach 23 million consumers annually; the company will change "the nutritional profile" of its children’s and full menus across all of its restaurants, by adding one "healthier option" to its Children's Menus in the US and Canada based on the MyPlate campaign.

This will include making a fruit or vegetable available as a default side, and offering low- and non-fat milk instead of soda and sugary beverages. This project will be completed by November of 2012. The company also pledged to reduce fat, salt and sodium by 10 percent in all menu offerings, in a project that will be completed by 2016. The company noted in its press release that it has already been focusing on making such changes, prior to joining PHA.

PHA and Hyatt stressed that the menu changes involve giving consumers improved choices rather than mandating food consumption: "Hyatt Hotel’s offering of these healthy items will supplement menu items that include indulgences, which will continue to be offered," PHA said.

Kaiser Permanente corporation, one of the founding members of PHA, will "institute new guidelines in all 29 of its hospitals that offer maternal and child health services to help make breastfeeding a priority" by designating these as "Baby friendly" and changing protocols by January of 2013. New to Let's Move! for 2011 was a focus on very early childhood interventions for obesity, and Mrs. Obama has advocated breastfeeding. The Fresh Grocer, a Philadelphia-area grocery company, will build five new food markets in the mid-Atlantic region by 2016, in areas defined as food deserts, as part of Mrs. Obama's goal of eradicating all US food deserts by 2017.

Gavin noted that PHA will be "holding all the companies responsible." Companies working with PHA sign Memos of Understanding for their commitments, but there are no legal ramifications if the commitments are not actually fulfilled. "Every company that works with PHA is required to agree that PHA will monitor and report on progress toward their commitment," the foundation noted.

Gavin also announced the Healthy Kids Out of School initiative, a commitment by leading children's organizations to develop "three unified principles for nutrition and physical activity." These are detailed below.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation during the summit announced a $3 million commitment to provide capital for financing retail, production, processing and distribution of fresh food to reach lower-income communities in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans.

During the day, summit participants participated in workshops and roundtable discussions that were closed to press. Representatives from each entity announcing their commitments spoke to the summit participants during the morning plenary session.

Hyatt's Commitment...
The Hyatt commitment mirrors the commitment made by the Darden restaurant chain. Menus at all Hyatt hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada will "be enhanced using the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPlate federal guidance," according to Hyatt's press release. Changes to menus will be implemented at all restaurants managed by Hyatt in the U.S. and Canada as well as on menus for room service, catering, bars, lounges and pools, the company said.

Children's Menu Changes
*Offer a fruit or vegetable as the default side item with all children’s meals

*Make 8 oz. servings of nonfat or low-fat milk available with free refills. Promote milk or water prominently on the menu with other beverage options displayed less prominently

*Offer at least one children’s menu meal option that meets the MyPlate federal guidance: One to two servings of fruit and vegetables, a whole grain serving, a lean protein serving, and a low fat dairy (or dairy substitute) serving, which together have a nutrient composition equal to or less than 600 calories, 30 percent of total calories from fat, 10 percent total calories from saturated fat, 600 mg of sodium, and no more than 10 grams added sugar. Position and feature that meal as the first on the children’s menus.

*Ensure any food illustrations on children’s menus depict nutritious options, including milk or water as the beverage of choice if beverages are depicted.

General menus
*By 2016, reduce the calorie footprint by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard within three years

*By 2016, reduce the sodium content of its food by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard within three years

*By 2016, reduce the added sugar content of food by at least 10 percent across all food menus, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of U.S. Hyatt properties meeting this standard by within three years

*At least two healthy menu meal options will be equivalent to or lower in price than less healthy menu meal options. This pricing parity will appear on all menus by 2016, with an endeavor to have at least 50 percent of menus reflecting this change within three years.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Commitment...
The Foundation announced a $3 million commitment to provide capital for financing retail, production, processing and distribution of fresh food to reach lower-income communities in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. The capital will be made available through the foundation’s mission-driven investment work in partnership with NCB Capital Impact (Capital Impact) of Arlington, Va., a Community Development Financial Institution.

Loans will be made to retailers and food enterprises that provide small and mid-sized producers with infrastructure – including processing, manufacturing and distribution operations – that help bring their products to local markets. Loans will be made available for a period of two years beginning in 2011.

Kaiser Permanente's Commitment...
*By January 1, 2013, all of Kaiser Permanente’s 29 hospitals that offer maternal and child health services will be designated as Baby-Friendly, and/or participate in the Joint Commission’s Perinatal Core Measures program, which requires participating hospitals to report their rates of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge.

*Kaiser Permanente will establish a system-wide performance improvement program focusing on the development and implementation of evidence-based hospital breastfeeding practices.

*Kaiser Permanente will develop and make publicly available a hospital breastfeeding practices guide that documents lessons learned and operational strategies that other systems can use to improve maternity care.

*To ensure accountability, Kaiser Permanente will include rates of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge as a core quality measure on its Quality Dashboard, which will be reviewed on a quarterly basis along with other hospital quality measures.

The Fresh Grocer's Commitment...
The Fresh Grocer will build five (5) grocery stores in or around areas in communities that lack access to healthy affordable foods. These stores will sell a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and dairy products and will be similar in size and scope to The Fresh Grocer stores in operation in 2011. The new stores will open by 2016.

Mrs. Obama visited The Fresh Grocer in Philadelphia in 2009 to unveil the Healthy Food Financing Initative, a fund ostensibly from USDA, Treasury and Health and Human Services that would offer grocery corporations low-interest loans and tax credits in order to encourage building markets in food deserts. Congress failed to fund the Obama Administration's requests for $400 million funding in FY 2010 and FY 2011, and again declined to fund $330 million for FY 2012.

In September of 2011, the Treasury granted $24 million to food desert projects in nine states from its own dedicated funds.

Healthy Kids Out of School...
The summit also had an announcement by ChildObesity180, "an alliance of senior-level national leaders from relevant sectors – public, private, academic, and nonprofit – that have aligned to reverse the trend of childhood obesity." The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative worked with leading out-of-school-time (OST) organizations to develop "three unified principles for nutrition and physical activity."

The principles recommend serving water as the primary beverage; fruits and vegetables as the primary snack; and increasing opportunities for physical activity. The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative "will also develop a comprehensive implementation plan to connect OST organizations with the local resources needed to help adopt the principles."

Participating organizations include Boy Scouts of America, National 4-H Council, Girl Scouts of the USA, National Council of La Raza, National Council of Youth Sports, National Urban League, Pop Warner, US Youth Soccer, and YMCA of the USA.

"Collectively, these organizations have the potential to reach tens of millions of children annually," PHA said.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

First Lady To Keynote "Building A Healthier Future" Summit

Partnership for a Healthier America's two-day childhood obesity summit begins Tuesday...
UPDATE: Click here for the post about Mrs. Obama's speech
First Lady Michelle Obama will give the keynote address on Wednesday morning at Partnership for a Healthier America's (PHA) Building a Healthier Future Summit. The two-day event in Washington, DC, is the first national summit hosted by the non-profit foundation established to further Mrs. Obama's Let's Move! campaign, and will bring together business and industry leaders with their nonprofit, academic, and government counterparts for panel meetings and discussions. It begins on Tuesday morning at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

Mrs. Obama serves as honorary chair of PHA, which is led by Dr. James R. Gavin III. The foundation is responsible for organizing and managing the private-sector commitments the First Lady has garnered for the Let's Move! campaign, including the pledges from Walmart and other grocers to build stores in food deserts, and from national chain Darden Restaurants to revamp its menu offerings.

At the summit, "private sector leaders from all industries will be announcing new commitments while current PHA partners will be proving updates on their progress," according to organizers.

Honorary vice-chairs Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, NJ and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., will both speak at the summit, as will Gavin.

The Great American Family Dinner Challenge...
UPDATE: Click here for the post about the cooking event
Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass is also a featured participant at the Summit. Kass will serve as the emcee for The Great American Family Dinner Challenge on Tuesday night, a cooking exhibition that will pit two teams of James Beard Award-winning chefs against each other to create a fabulous dinner on a Food Stamps budget. The chefs--Tom Colicchio and Maria Hines vs. Holly Smith and Ming Tsai--will have $10 of ingredients and just thirty minutes to dazzle the judges, who are two sets of "real" parents. (Kass, above)

A dinner on Tuesday night for all Summit attendees will be cooked by James Beard Award winners and nominees Floyd Cardoz, Koren Grieveson, Michel Nischan and Anne Quatrano.

Social media: PHA's website is here; a Facebook page for the summit is here; Twitter is @PHANews with the hashtag #PHASummit. Check out @LetsMove and Letsmove.gov for the First Lady's campaign.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/ObamaFoodorama

Fab Food On A Food Stamps Budget: Sam Kass & The Great American Family Dinner Challenge

Chefs Tom Colicchio, Jose Andres & other James Beard Award winners join cooking showcase events at first-ever Summit hosted by Partnership for a Healthier America...
White House Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass will be joined on Tuesday, Nov. 29 by acclaimed chefs, including Top Chef host Tom Colicchio of New York, Boston's Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger restaurant, and Washington, DC's Jose Andres for two exciting cooking events during the inaugural Building A Healthier Future Summit from Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA). The James Beard Foundation is partnering to support the cooking showcases, and all the participating chefs are winners of the much-coveted Beard Awards, regarded as the Oscars of the food world. (Kass, above)

PHA is the non-profit foundation created to support First Lady Obama's Let's Move! campaign, and the conference will focus on streamlining a coordinated national agenda for battling childhood obesity. Mrs. Obama serves as honorary chairwoman of PHA. She will give the keynote address during the Summit's second day, on Wednesday, Nov. 30. It will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

On the first day, Kass will emcee The Great American Family Dinner Challenge, a cookoff that pits two teams of chefs against each other to create a fabulous dinner on the kind of budget that's used by those participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as Food Stamps. The chefs will have $10 of ingredients and just thirty minutes to dazzle the judges. Colicchio and chef Maria Hines of Tilth restaurant in Seattle will wield their knives against Tsai and chef Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, WA.

The average monthly household benefit for America's 45.1 million Food Stamp recipients in June was $282.31, according to USDA. The judges will be two families that have won a sweepstakes from Parents and Ser Padres magazines, co-sponsors of the event.

Three-course gourmet meals for $4.50/person...
The hundreds of expected summit attendees will experience the culinary handiwork of the other participating Beard Award winners. Andres will be joined by chefs Floyd Cardoz of New York's Tabla restaurant, Koren Grieveson of Chicago's Avec restaurant, and Anne Quatrano of Atlanta's Bacchanalia restaurant to create healthy, three-course meals that cost just $4.50 per person, an approximation of what the "average American" spends on dinner, according to PHA.

"Part of overcoming the obesity crisis in this country is helping individuals and families understand that healthy food can be affordable, quick to make and also really tasty," said PHA spokesman Drew Nannis. "These chefs have set the bar for what it means to prepare meals, and we're thrilled that they are willing to see if they can do what millions of families do every day in kitchens across the country: Put a healthy, delicious, affordable meal on the table--fast."

The Beard Foundation recently crowned Mrs. Obama with one of its inaugural Leadership Awards, which recognize "visionaries in the business, government and education sectors responsible for creating a healthier, safer, and more sustainable food world."

The Summit...
Featured speakers at the Summit include PHA honorary vice-chairs Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, NJ, and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Breakout sessions will include tracks focused on elements of the Let's Move! campaign: Making childcare healthier for children; creating opportunities for people to buy healthier foods in supermarkets; increasing physical activity; and working with schools to create a healthier learning environment.

Among other activities, PHA, chaired by Dr. James Gavin III, is responsible for micromanaging the White House partnerships with the private sector for the Let's Move! campaign. Through Memos of Understanding, PHA is overseeing the commitments from Walmart and other grocers to build markets in food deserts, as well as the commitment from Darden Restaurants, Inc., the largest chain restaurant corporation in the US, to revamp its menus over the next decade. (Above: Mrs. Obama during the Darden announcement)

The two-day Summit, Nov. 29-30, is the first from PHA. More on Let's Move is at Letsmove.gov...or this blog.

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama