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Excellent information surfaced this week as Michelle Obama released the Childhood Obesity Task Force report. The first lady is passionate about her signature program and proclaims that the nation will have goals and benchmarks.

The goal of the plan is to try to solve childhood obesity in a generation – by returning to a country wide childhood obesity rate of 5% by 2030. Today that number stands at about 30% - a whopping 25 million you people in America who suffer from obesity.

Those extra pounds expose children to a wide range of diseases and health concerns such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and various heart related issues. The report points to the obese generation shaving two to five years off their lifespan based on poor health related to being over weight.

Some of the reports recommendations include the following:

• healthier choices on the childrens' menus at restaurants (that includes all those kiddie meals)
• food and beverage industry needs to market nutritious foods – not just junk foods
• families should eat dinner together more often
• elementary students should be getting recess and more schools need physical education programs
• food quality at schools needs to increase

Mrs. Obama states: “"For the first time, the nation will have goals, benchmarks and measureable outcomes that will help us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic one child, one family and one community at a time."

To prepare the report the task force reviewed research, consulted with experts, considered 2,500 comments from the public and consulted 12 federal agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education and Health and Human Services.

The coming months should include the federal government working with local communities to distribute information about the upcoming 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans through simple messages, such as: drink water instead of soda or juice with added sugar; eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins; choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products; and, when possible, eat dinner together as a family.

I’ve not read the report first hand but I applaud the first lady and her mission. While I may prefer private sector approaches, the impact of the program should be positive. There is no question that we need change related to childhood obesity.

The recommendations make sense although I’d like to see more done related to the socio-economic impact of obesity on the greater population – not just kids. As long as it remains cheaper to buy processed food over fruits and vegetables, or to get a caloric-disaster value meal for 99 cents, our nation will be a heavy society.

The food companies should be leading the way to a healthier nation – not just lobbying our leaders and taking our money to the bank on the way to creating this nation of obesity.

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