Another step in Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity is to urge the nation’s largest food companies to make their food products healthier by reducing fat, salt and sugar in their products. She is also requesting that these same companies reconsider directing their marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

At a meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers Association last week, Michelle Obama told the food industry “to not just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children,” she said.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members, invited her to speak at its science forum this week.  Attendees gave her a standing ovation.

Welcoming the first lady and helping implement her campaign against childhood obesity could have its advantages. The food industry is in a situation where their profits are expected to decrease in the coming year, due to a child nutrition bill that is moving through Congress that could potentially remove all junk food in schools.

Former President Bill Clinton, who in 2005 partnered with the American Heart Association for a similar campaign against childhood obesity, said he was thrilled that Michelle Obama had joined the cause. “She’ll get visibility for it that I can’t get. She’s a lot younger than I am. She’ll relate better to a lot of the kids in the schools. They’ll relate better to her. I think it’s a really great thing for her to do this.”

Last week, Clinton announced that he has been able to reduce beverage calories shipped to schools by 88%.   His effort was aimed at replacing full calorie soft drinks with reduced calorie, smaller portion beverages in school cafeterias and vending machines.

Since the science forum last week, Kraft Foods Inc. has announced that they are going to make positive changes and reduce fat, salt and sugar in their products.  Michelle Obama expects that other companies will announce changes to their products in the coming weeks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_michelle_obama_food_companies

Adding urgency to Michelle Obama’s initiative to tackle childhood obesity is the release of two new studies published in the medical journal Health Affairs.  The studies indicate that American children are eating three snacks each day on top of three regular meals, a finding that could explain why the childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent since 2003.

Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina reported that children are snacking so often that they are “moving toward constant eating,” a habit that is putting our children’s health at risk for obesity related diseases.

Piernas and Popkin looked at 31,337 children aged 2 to 18 from four different federal surveys on food and eating.  ”Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks,” they wrote.

“Children have increased their caloric intake by 113 calories per day from 1977 to 2006,” they added. “This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming deregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating.”

In a second study in the journal, Christina Bethell of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland analyzed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health to find the rate of obesity for children 10 to 17 rose from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007.

Other studies have shown that obese children are more likely to stay obese as adults, and they develop chronic conditions at younger ages, burdening the healthcare system.

Michelle Obama told the School Nutrition Association that “Parents, educators and policymakers all hold responsibility for this childhood obesity epidemic.  Our kids didn’t do this to themselves.  From fast food, to vending machines packed with chips and candy, to a la carte lines, we tempt our kids with all kinds of unhealthy choices every day.  You see kids who are at higher risk of conditions like diabetes, and cancer, and heart disease, conditions that cost billions of dollars a year to treat.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100302/hl_nm/us_obesity_children_usa

In the state of the union address a few weeks ago, President Barack Obama announced that his wife, Michelle, has been laying the groundwork for over a year, developing a plan to fight childhood obesity.   To achieve this goal, Michelle Obama has requested the help of parents, schools, health professionals, sports and entertainment role models, business leaders and governments.

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic that causes numerous health problems that can affect children now and as they grow into adults.  Currently 1 out of every 3 children is considered overweight.

There are several factors contributing to this epidemic including the following:

Busy parents opt for fast food rather than healthy family dinners at home.

Vending machines stocked with soda and candy bars.

Availability of high fat, high calorie snacks marketed towards children.

High cost of healthy options (there may be a link between obesity and low income).

Children rather watch TV or play games than play outside and exercise.

Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association, said Obama’s focus will help generate the motivation needed to change attitudes.  Michelle Obama, known as a mother, motivator and role model is the perfect fit to get this job done.  Yancy admits Michelle has a tough job ahead of her, but he thinks that her goals can be achieved only with the help of several of organizations that can make substantive changes such as reducing fatty snacks and sodas in schools, providing better nutrition labeling of processed foods.

Michelle Obama’s plan to end childhood obesity includes the following:

Increase federal money to make cafeteria options healthier

Get the junk food out of school vending machines.

Expand time for school recess and physical education.

Offer federal incentives to low income families so that they can purchase healthier foods.

Stop companies from marketing junk food to children.

Pass laws to make restaurants to print nutrition information on menus.

Encourage health practitioners to do more medical screening for obesity in children.

Work with FDA to improve food labeling.

Provide behavior counseling to overweight kids.

Included in this list is the ‘School Lunch Program’ which is up for review by Congress this year.  Parents can control their child’s diet most of the time, but a huge weakness in her fight against obesity is the options available to kids when their parents aren’t around – at school.  To help with the School Lunch Program, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget calls for an additional 1 billion dollars each year for child nutrition programs.

Dora Rivas, president of the School Nutrition Association and director of food services for the Dallas public schools, said schools need more federal dollars to be able to use fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains into lunches, and to keep up with the growing numbers of children who qualify for free or reduced-cost meals.

Michelle Obama has a tough road ahead of her, but she said last month that she won’t be satisfied unless she knows she’s made a difference. “That is the legacy I want,” she said. “I want to leave something behind that we can say, because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_first_lady_s_cause

SOURCE:  http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Blog.aspx?id=13585&blogid=564