Establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

Memorandum of February 9, 2010

Establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies

Across our country, childhood obesity has reached
epidemic rates and, as a result, our children may live
shorter lives than their parents. Obesity has been
recognized as a problem for decades, but efforts to
address this crisis to date have been insufficient. My
Administration is committed to redoubling our efforts
to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a
generation through a comprehensive approach that builds
on effective strategies, engages families and
communities, and mobilizes both public and private
sector resources.

Nearly one third of children in America are overweight
or obese--a rate that has tripled in adolescents and
more than doubled in younger children since 1980. One
third of all individuals born in the year 2000 or later
will eventually suffer from diabetes over the course of
their lifetime, while too many others will face chronic
obesity-related health problems such as heart disease,
high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. Without
effective intervention, many more children will endure
serious illnesses that will put a strain on our health-
care system. We must act now to improve the health of
our Nation's children and avoid spending billions of
dollars treating preventable disease.

Therefore, I have set a goal to solve the problem of
childhood obesity within a generation so that children
born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.
The First Lady will lead a national public awareness
effort to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity. She
will encourage involvement by actors from every
sector--the public, nonprofit, and private sectors, as
well as parents and youth--to help support and amplify
the work of the Federal Government in improving the
health of our children. But to meet our goal, we must
accelerate implementation of successful strategies that
will prevent and combat obesity. Such strategies
include updating child nutrition policies in a way that
addresses the best available scientific information,
ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools
and communities, as well as increasing physical
activity and empowering parents and caregivers with the
information and tools they need to make good choices
for themselves and their families. To succeed, these
efforts must be strategically targeted, and
accountability should be clear. They will help our
children develop lifelong healthy habits, ensuring they
reach their greatest potential toward building a
healthier and more prosperous America. To these ends, I
hereby direct the following:

Section 1. Establishment of the Task Force on Childhood
Obesity. There is established a Task Force on Childhood
Obesity (Task Force) to develop an interagency action
plan to solve the problem of obesity among our Nation's
children within a generation. The Assistant to the
President for Domestic Policy shall serve as Chair of
the Task Force.

(a) Membership of the Task Force. In addition to
the Chair, the Task Force shall consist of the
following members, or any senior official designated by
one of the following members who is a part of the
member's department, agency, or office, and who is a
full time officer or employee of the Federal
Government:

(1) the Secretary of the Interior;

(2) the Secretary of Agriculture;

(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

(4) the Secretary of Education;

(5) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(6) the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady;

(7) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; and

(8) the heads of other executive departments, agencies, or offices as the
Chair may designate.

At the direction of the Chair, the Task Force may
establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Task
Force members or their designees under this section, as
appropriate.
(b) Administration of the Task Force. The
Department of Health and Human Services shall provide
funding and administrative support for the Task Force
to the extent permitted by law and within existing
appropriations.

Sec. 2. Mission and Functions of the Task Force. The
Task Force shall work across executive departments and
agencies to develop a coordinated Federal response
while also identifying nongovernmental actions that can
be taken to solve the problem of childhood obesity
within a generation. The functions of the Task Force
are advisory only and shall include, but are not
limited to, making recommendations to meet the
following objectives:

(a) ensuring access to healthy, affordable food;
(b) increasing physical activity in schools and
communities;
(c) providing healthier food in schools; and
(d) empowering parents with information and tools
to make good choices for themselves and their families.

Sec. 3. Interagency Action Plan. Within 90 days of the
date of this memorandum, the Task Force shall develop
and submit to the President a comprehensive interagency
plan that:

(a) details a coordinated strategy by executive
departments and agencies to meet the objectives of the
Task Force and identifies areas for reform to ensure
complementary efforts and avoid duplication, both
across the Federal Government and between other public
or nongovernmental actors;
(b) includes comprehensive, multi-sectoral
strategies from each member executive department,
agency, or office and describes the status and scope of
its efforts to achieve this goal;
(c) identifies key benchmarks and provides for
regular measurement, assessment, and reporting of
executive branch efforts to combat childhood obesity;
(d) describes a coordinated action plan for
identifying relevant evidence gaps and conducting or
facilitating needed research to fill those gaps;
(e) assists in the assessment and development of
legislative, budgetary, and policy proposals that can
improve the health and well-being of children, their
families, and communities; and
(f) describes potential areas of collaboration with
other public or nongovernmental actors, taking into
consideration the types of implementation or research
objectives the Federal Government, other public actors,
or nongovernmental actors may be particularly well-
situated to accomplish.

Sec. 4. Outreach. Consistent with the objectives set
out in this memorandum, the Task Force, in accordance
with applicable law, and in addition to regular
meetings, shall conduct outreach with representatives
of private and nonprofit organizations, State, tribal
and local authorities, and other interested persons
that can assist with the Task Force's development of a
detailed set of recommendations to solve the problem of
childhood obesity.

Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) The heads of executive
departments and agencies shall assist and provide
information to the Task Force, consistent

with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out
the functions of the Task Force. Each executive
department, agency, and office shall bear its own
expense for participating in the Task Force.

(b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.

Sec. 6. Publication. The Secretary of Health and Human
Services is authorized and directed to publish this
memorandum in the Federal Register.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

WASHINGTON, February 9, 2010