Statement by the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation on the One Year Anniversary of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign

Statement by the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation on the One Year Anniversary of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign
WASHINGTON D.C. – The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation today extended its congratulations to First Lady Michelle Obama on the first anniversary of Let’s Move!, her ground-breaking program aimed at eliminating childhood obesity.

“Thanks to the First Lady’s initiative more Americans than ever are conscious of the problem of childhood obesity and committed to help solve it. Her leadership has resulted in a groundswell of support for this cause,” said Lisa Gable, executive director of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation.

“The First Lady is talking about both sides of the obesity challenge. The problem is both the calories people consume and the calories they expend through physical activity – or don’t expend because of lack of physical activity. It is vital that we encourage fewer calories in and more calories out – energy balance.”

In the 17 months since the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) was formed, it has launched the following initiatives aimed at encouraging fewer calories in and more calories out:
• Announcing a pledge by Foundation manufacturing members to reduce 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace by the end of 2015, by reducing portion sizes of existing single-serve products, developing lower-calorie options, or reformulating recipes to lower the calorie content of current products.
• Partnering with Discovery Education in Energy Balance 101 – a curriculum presented in language children understand, promoting nutrition and physical activity education – that reaches into 21,000 elementary schools and is available free of charge online at www.energybalance101.com.
• Partnering with Meredith Media Company and Parents Magazine in www.parents.com/hwcf, offering free resources to help parents and teachers address child obesity.
• Partnering in a website with the National Business Group on Health, offering free resources to help small/midsized firms provide employee wellness programs.
• Promoting healthier eating and physical activity to the domestic employees of member companies, including conducting (through the National Business Group on Health) annual studies of the workplace wellness initiatives of HWCF members.
• Partnering with the American Dietetic Association Foundation to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive school-based energy balance program.
“This is an issue that is important to the future of all Americans – and Americans should be appreciative that First Lady Michelle Obama has taken on a leading role,” Ms. Gable said.