Presidential Documents

54757 

Federal Register 

Vol. 75, No. 173 

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 

Title 3— 

The President 

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 obesityrelated 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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54758 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 8, 2010 / Presidential Documents 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2010–22590 

Filed 9–7–10; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3195–W0–P 


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