Yesterday, the First Lady of the United States unveiled her Let’s Move initiative to combat childhood obesity, a problem that affects nearly one in three children in America.  With hunger affecting nearly one in four children in America, the link between food security and obesity is pretty clear.   

The initiative itself is impressive and far reaching, tackling childhood obesity and its causes through physical activity, quality of food, education, access, and affordability.  It’s a good first step in achieving President Obama’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. 

What struck me most about the press conference was the First Lady’s even-handed, compassionate yet stern tone.  While she sympathized with working families that may not have the money, time, or information to make healthier choices for her family, she also put families, food companies, and legislators alike on notice:

…it’s a moment of truth for our country…Our kids didn’t do this to themselves. Our kids don’t decide what’s served to them at school or whether there’s time for gym class or recess. Our kids don’t choose to make food products with tons of sugar and sodium in super-sized portions, and then to have those products marketed to them everywhere they turn. And no matter how much they beg for pizza, fries and candy, ultimately, they are not, and should not, be the ones calling the shots at dinnertime. We’re in charge. We make these decisions.

This year, we can act on some of these responsibilities by advocating our members of Congress to support a strong reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, including the President’s request for an extra $1 billion in funding for the programs. 

 A fully funded package of child nutrition programs would:

• Reduce child hunger by increasing access to programs
• Improve the quality of food served in schools by improving reimbursement rates and establishing better farm to school links
• Bring additional federal funds into the states
• Reduce paperwork and administrative costs for schools
• Reduce the stigma of participating in free school meal programs, all of which will enhance the quality of our children’s learning

By engaging together as a national community on this issue, we can make sure that fewer of our children go needlessly hungry.

Click here to go to the California Food Policy Advocates to learn more about the California implications of the Child Nutrition Act and some of the specific actions that we are asking Congress to support. 

Click here to write a letter to your Senator or Representative to tell them that you want them to support a fully funded Child Nutrition Act.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.