[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 8, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54757-54758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-22590]



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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 8554--National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, 2010


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 8, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents

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Title 3--
The President

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                Proclamation 8554 of September 1, 2010

                
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, 2010

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                One of the greatest responsibilities we have as a 
                Nation is to safeguard the health and well-being of our 
                children. We now face a national childhood obesity 
                crisis, with nearly one in every three of America's 
                children being overweight or obese. There are concrete 
                steps we can take right away as concerned parents, 
                caregivers, educators, loved ones, and a Nation to 
                ensure that our children are able to live full and 
                active lives. During National Childhood Obesity 
                Awareness Month, I urge all Americans to take action to 
                meet our national goal of solving the problem of 
                childhood obesity within a generation.

                Childhood obesity has been a growing problem for 
                decades. While it has afflicted children across our 
                country, certain Americans have been disproportionately 
                affected. Particular racial and ethnic groups are more 
                severely impacted, as are certain regions of the 
                country. In addition, obesity can be influenced by a 
                number of environmental and behavioral factors, 
                including unhealthy eating patterns and too little 
                physical activity at home and at school.

                We must do more to halt and reverse this epidemic, as 
                obesity can lead to severe and chronic health problems 
                during childhood, adolescence and adulthood, including 
                heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and asthma. Not only 
                does excess weight adversely affect our children's 
                well-being, but its associated health risks also impose 
                great costs on families, our health care system, and 
                our economy. Each year, nearly $150 billion are spent 
                to treat obesity-related medical conditions. This is 
                not the future to which we want to consign our 
                children, and it is a burden our health care system 
                cannot bear.

                Earlier this year, the First Lady announced ``Let's 
                Move!''--an initiative to combat childhood obesity at 
                every stage of a child's life. As President, I created 
                a Task Force on Childhood Obesity to marshal the 
                combined resources of the Federal Government to develop 
                interagency solutions and make recommendations on how 
                to respond to this crisis. The Task Force produced a 
                report containing a comprehensive set of 
                recommendations that will put our country on track for 
                solving this pressing health issue and preventing it 
                from threatening future generations.

                The report outlines broad strategies to address 
                childhood obesity, including providing healthier food 
                in schools, ensuring access to healthy affordable food, 
                increasing opportunities for physical activity, 
                empowering parents and caregivers with better 
                information about making healthy choices, and giving 
                children a healthy start in life. I invite all 
                Americans to visit LetsMove.gov to learn more about 
                these recommendations and find additional information 
                and resources on how to help children eat healthy and 
                stay active.

                The new landmark health care law, the Affordable Care 
                Act (ACA), includes a number of important tools for 
                fighting and reversing the rise of childhood obesity. 
                All new health insurance plans will be required to 
                cover both screenings for childhood obesity and 
                counseling on nutrition and sustained weight loss, 
                without charging any out of pocket costs. The ACA also 
                requires

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                large restaurant and vending machine operators to 
                provide visible nutritional information about the 
                products they sell, enabling all Americans to make more 
                informed choices about the foods they eat. As part of 
                my Administration's comprehensive approach to combating 
                this epidemic, the ACA includes millions in new funds 
                to implement prevention activities nationwide that 
                support recommendations of the Task Force on Childhood 
                Obesity.

                Our history shows that when we are united in our 
                convictions, we can safeguard the health and safety of 
                America's children for generations to come. When waves 
                of American children were stricken with polio and 
                disabled for life, we developed a nationwide 
                immunization program that eradicated this crippling 
                disease from our shores within a matter of decades. 
                When we discovered that children were going to school 
                hungry because their families could not afford 
                nutritious meals, we created the National School Lunch 
                Program. Today, this program feeds more than 30 million 
                American children, often at little or no charge. When 
                we work together, we can overcome any obstacle and 
                protect our Nation's most precious resource--our 
                children. As we take steps to turn around the epidemic 
                of childhood obesity, I am confident that we will solve 
                this problem together, and that we will solve it in a 
                generation.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim September 2010 as 
                National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. I encourage 
                all Americans to take action by learning about and 
                engaging in activities that promote healthy eating and 
                greater physical activity by all of our Nation's 
                children.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                first day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2010-22590
Filed 9-7-10; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W0-P