National Childhood Obesity Awareness

Photo Credit

On August 31st, 2013, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation declaring September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness month. We recently blogged about nationwide improvements in childhood obesity rates. While it is good news that the rate of increase has slowed, the President's proclamation draws attention to the fact that this is still a very serious concern for the nation. Michelle Obama's campaign, Let's Move! has ideas for bringing fun activities to your community this month and year round:

For Parents
Parents and caregivers can set a great example for the whole family by creating a healthy environment at home. Get updates from Let’s Move Outside! on new ideas on what and where to play outdoors with your kids.

For Community and Faith Leaders
Get involved in Let's Move Faith and Communities. We encourage you to take action to make your congregation or community a place of wellness.

For Local Elected Officials
No city, town or county is the same, and each one needs its own approach for solving childhood obesity. Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties engages local elected officials by focusing on their unique ability to promote improved nutrition and increase physical activity at the local level.

Child Care Providers and Early Education Programs
Helping children learn healthy habits early, through child care and early education programs, is critical to solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. Let's Move! Child Care is a voluntary initiative to empower child care and early education providers to meet 5 goals: increasing physical activity, reducing screen time, improving food choices, providing healthy beverages, and supporting breast feeding.

For Health Care Providers
Health care professionals directly impact children’s health. Let’s Move! in the Clinic is a voluntary effort by health care providers address childhood obesity. Working together with children and their families in clinics, practices, homes, schools and neighborhoods, health care professionals can make a real difference in solving the problem of childhood obesity.

For more ideas like these, check out this page!