National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, 2016

Proclamation 9480 of August 31, 2016

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term
effects on a child's health and well-being--it puts our
young people at higher risk for health problems in
adulthood and it can strain our economy in the years
ahead. But collaborative efforts in recent years have
helped our Nation make progress and begin to reverse
these trends. By fostering environments that support
healthy choices and giving families the knowledge and
resources they need to make smart decisions, we can
move closer toward ensuring all our children grow up
healthy. Every September, as children begin the new
school year, we recommit to solving the epidemic of
childhood obesity within the next generation.

Over the course of my Presidency, we have put forward
new programs, policies, and initiatives that put
children on a path to a healthy future. At the launch
of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative,
I established the first-ever Task Force on Childhood
Obesity to develop a national action plan to mobilize
the public and private sectors and engage families and
communities in an effort to improve the health of our
children. Combining comprehensive strategies with
common sense, Let's Move! is focused on helping
children lead a healthier life during their earliest
months and years; providing healthier foods in our
schools; ensuring every family has access to healthy,
affordable food; and getting children to become more
physically active. Everyone has a role to play in
ensuring all of our kids grow up healthy, including
parents and caregivers, elected officials from all
levels of government, schools, health care
professionals, faith-based and community-based
organizations, and the private sector. For the past 5
years we have welcomed students to the White House from
across our Nation to create original and healthy
recipes in our annual Healthy Lunchtime Challenge and
Kids' ``State Dinner.'' The First Lady has also invited
students to join her in planting and harvesting the
White House Kitchen Garden to learn about where their
food comes from and experience firsthand how healthy
food can be fun and delicious.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration
introduced a modernized Nutrition Facts label--which
includes more realistic serving sizes and information
on added sugars--to provide families with the accurate
information they need to make healthy choices. We know
there is a strong connection between what our kids eat
and how well they perform in school, too. That is why,
in 2010, I signed the bipartisan Healthy, Hunger-Free
Kids Act, a law that improves the quality of school
meals and snacks for over 50 million students so they
have the fuel they need to focus on their education and
grow up healthy. A recent study showed that because of
the increased availability and variety of fruits and
vegetables in school meals, students have been
empowered to make healthier choices since these
standards were updated. The Act increased the number of
students who could get school meals at little or no
cost and ensured that any food or beverage marketed to
children at school meets specific nutrition standards.
It also helped bring about the first major revision of
nutrition standards for the Child and Adult Care Food
Program since its inception more than 40 years ago.

In addition to improving the nutrition of the food our
children eat, we will keep striving to create
opportunities for kids to become more physically
active. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
recommend that kids be active for at least 60 minutes
every day, but less than one-third of teenagers have
met that goal in recent years. Last year, the Surgeon
General called on communities to recognize the
importance of exercise by walking more and by improving
the walkability of our neighborhoods. Through our
``Every Kid in a Park'' initiative, we have opened up
our National Parks to fourth graders and their families
for free, so that children from all backgrounds, parts
of the country, and walks of life can get outdoors more
easily.

This year, as we observe National Childhood Obesity
Awareness Month, let us renew our commitment to giving
America's daughters and sons a healthy start in life.
Let us continue to encourage parents and caregivers to
make nutritious choices and help their children do the
same, improve access to healthy and affordable foods in
our communities and our schools, and promote active
lifestyles. We must each do our part to reduce
childhood obesity and empower our children to reach for
the brighter, healthier future they deserve.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim September 2016 as
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. I encourage
all Americans to learn about and engage in activities
that promote healthy eating and greater physical
activity by all our Nation's children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-first.