First Lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her top domestic priority, and now a new report by the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity list 70 steps that can be undertaken immediately that may help reduce the childhood obesity rate in the United States.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that two-thirds of US adults and 15 percent of US children are obese or overweight, and for children ages 2-19, the number is roughly 33 percent. As Reuters reports, diseases related to being overweight or obese costs the US roughly "$150 billion per year in direct medical costs."
Reuters reports that while the task force's report calls for "specific actions that can be taken by government and private industry to battle a national health crisis but does not call for new funding or legislation." The panel recommended using economic incentives to help promote access to healthy foods for areas that are currently under-served, known as "food deserts."
The other recommendations rely on the food industry to take a lot of action on their own to confront the problem, in addition to helping eliminate food deserts. As Janet Adamy reports for the Wall Street Journal online, the task force calls on "food makers to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children[.]"
If the efforts of the food industry to curb marketing of unhealthy products to children doesn't work, the task force report states "the Federal Communications Commission should consider stronger regulations by 'revisiting and modernizing rules on commercial time during children's programming."'
Additionally, the food industry is urged in the report to work with the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to develop new nutrition labels that will be located on the front of food packages. The report also makes recommendations for schools, restaurants, pediatricians, health insurance, and sales taxes.
Earlier this year, in the face of potential new laws regulating their products in schools, beverage companies came together and worked with the Senate Agriculture Committee on steps the companies could take on their own to deal with childhood obesity without the need of new statutes. The result was an agreement that beverage companies would change which products they offer on school property to help reduce childhood obesity. We shall see if the private industry covered in the task force report follows the beverage companies' lead, or if the industry waits to see if new regulations come into effect?
To check out the task force's report to the President, click here.
To read the Reuters article, click here.
To read Janet Adamy's article, click here.
Posted: 05/11/10
