White House Release Obesity Prevention Report

On May 11 the White House Childhood Obesity Task Force released their report and action plan aimed at “solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation.”  At a morning press conference, the First Lady was joined by Education Secretary Duncan and others to discuss the report. The plan is to serve as a roadmap for the work needed to make sure kids grow up healthy and have the opportunity to live active lives. 

The report reflects input from 12 federal agencies as well as the 2,500 submissions received from parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, and the Afterschool Alliance; and notes that all 19 studies examining the relationship between participation in extracurricular physical activity, including afterschool sports or other afterschool physical activity programs, and academic performance found one or more positive associations.  The report details 70 recommendations for public and private sector action, as well as concrete metrics and benchmarks to measure progress towards the ultimate goal.  Among the recommendations are several that focus on promoting physical activity and healthy snacks during the afterschool time, including:

• Promote good nutrition through afterschool programs.  Afterschool pro¬grams face distinct circumstances and challenges beyond those that impact children and young people during the school day.  States and communities can develop standards and strategies tailored for afterschool programs by building on and integrating the afterschool snack components of USDA’s Child Nutrition programs.  The Federal government could develop and offer model approaches and resources to inform these efforts.  Note that the Afterschool Alliance is working with the Healthy Out of School Time (HOST) coalition on standards for the state level, and is engaged in a project with the Food Research and Action Center to increase participation in the USDA afterschool and summer feeding programs.

• Encourage publicly and privately-managed facilities that serve children, such as hospitals, afterschool programs, recreation centers, and parks (including national parks) to implement policies and practices, consistent with the Dietary Guidelines, to promote healthy foods and beverages and reduce or eliminate the availability of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods.

• Federal, state, and local educational agencies, in partnership with communities and businesses, should work to support programs to extend the school day, including afterschool programs, which offer and enhance physical activity opportunities in their programs.
   
• “Active transport” should be encouraged between homes, schools, and community destinations for afterschool activities, including to and from parks, libraries, transit, bus stops, and recreation centers.

The Task Force is part of the Let’s Move campaign being led by First Lady Michelle Obama.

We look forward to continuing our policy, awareness and research work promoting afterschool programs as the ideal platform for encouraging active and healthy habits among children. 

Learn more about the Afterschool Alliance’s work in the area of physical fitness, nutrition and afterschool here.

Erik Peterson is Policy Director at the Afterschool Alliance. Bio.