FLOTUS Says “Let’s Move”

By now, most Americans have experienced the impact of obesity and sedentary behavior in our young people – we’ve watched stories on our local news, we hear it from our kids’ doctors, we see it walking down the streets in our communities. Childhood obesity is a tough problem. And tough problems usually require bold solutions.

Today First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) Michelle Obama announced details of the Let’s Move campaign, with the goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. The campaign aims to coordinate partnerships across all sectors of society to give schools, families and communities access to the tools that will help kids’ live healthier, more active lives. A key part of the initiative is the establishment of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a new independent foundation to help facilitate new collaborations and accelerate new efforts targeting obesity. It’s ambitious, it’s bold – and it’s an opportunity for all of us to engage.

Our president and CEO Pat Christen was in the audience at the White House event to launch the initiative, along with a host of nonprofit colleagues and collaborators that included KaBOOM!, Playworks, Save the Children, Fitness Forward and others.

Following the event, Pat had this to say:

“The First Lady’s plan to fight child obesity is ambitious, multifaceted, and offers a new approach to an urgent problem. The challenge of obesity and sedentary behavior in our kids is of national importance, and Mrs. Obama’s personal engagement and commitment were clearly felt in the room. 

“I applaud Mrs. Obama’s call to action to philanthropies, industry and government to work together on innovative solutions to this intractable problem. I also appreciate her compassion for the challenges families face. Mrs. Obama’s pragmatism in the face of such a complex challenge is inspiring. My hope is that what we’ve heard today inspires each of us to roll up our sleeves and contribute our time, energy and insights to finding solutions that really work.“

To effectively fight obesity, we’ll need new ideas and a collective commitment from all parts of society – public institutions, private businesses, philanthropic organizations and grassroots movements. We’re looking to leverage all of these sectors in our work with gDitty, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the Let’s Move campaign might bring together new partners to help solve the obesity problem in America.

As Mrs. Obama said in her remarks today, “We know what we need to do to solve [the obesity problem]. We just have to make the commitment to do it.”

Let’s move, people!

Read the news from the White House on today’s event here, or view the event video below.