January 2010 Archives

Last week I dialed into a teleconference originating from USDA's new Broadcast Media and Technology Center. The event featured Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and representatives of the National Dairy Council reporting on Fuel Up to Play 60, a youth program (grades 4-8) sponsored by the National Dairy Council, the National Football League and, now, USDA as well.

The program is designed to empower students to take action for their health and improve their school environment - by eating healthfully, playing at least 60 minutes a day, and participating in program activities in and out of school. Students and schools participating in Fuel Up to Play 60 also compete nationally to win prizes for themselves and their school.

The potential of an initiative like Fuel Up to Play 60 to help children eat more of the food groups they are under-consuming and to increase daily activity is truly impressive. Currently, the program, which was launched in October 2009, reaches nearly 36.6 million students in 60,000 schools - 60% of the nation's private and public schools. Bravo! to program sponsors for this achievement.

In addition to the star power of the NFL (which early testing showed appeals to both boys and girls), the program includes an interactive Web site, a social marketing platform, and the very important ability to tailor program elements to each school's unique needs. Secretary Vilsack noted that the Fuel Up to Play 60 program dovetails nicely with USDA's Healthy Schools Campaign. He also noted that advocacy is extremely important now. Child nutrition programs are a national priority - even a national security issue. "We are dealing with 30 million children who will grow up to serve their country in many ways," said Vilsack. "We need them to be strong and healthy."

For more details about the program, see a transcript of the teleconference here.

The January 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) includes an article reporting that the rising rate of obesity in the U.S. may have slowed over recent decades. While this is great news, let's not allow it to distract us from the work that remains. Rather, let's use this positive momentum to fuel our efforts. The status quo isn't good enough.

Here is an analogy: Think of the whole country as if I were one person. After someone who is overweight successfully loses some pounds, it's not unusual for him or her to stall or hit a plateau.  If complacency sets in, progress stops - or even reverses. So here's a pat on the back, America. Now, let's get back to the challenge.

We still need to work diligently on two fronts: (1) igniting and sustaining a downward trend in weight among obese children and adults and (2) preventing people, especially children, from becoming obese in the first place. Thus, as the American Dietetic Association (ADA) stated in a recent press release commenting on the JAMA article, obesity prevention through a healthy lifestyle remains an important public health priority. 

As ADA President Jessie M. Pavlinac notes, the association and its members "remain committed to reducing the physical and economic costs of obesity and obesity-related health problems in our country by providing expert guidance to consumers that is personalized, doable and affordable. . . .The link between childhood obesity and adult obesity is very strong, so it is extremely important that we as parents provide our children with the tools they need to develop and maintain healthy eating plans."

One of ADA's most innovative education programs - the Healthy Schools Partnership (HSP) - goes straight to the core of the issue in an effort to trigger the systemic cultural change necessary to eliminate the threat obesity poses to the health of our nation. I have spoken about this three-year old program before in this space, but here's a recap: The HSP model places registered dietitians in schools as nutrition coaches who work seamlessly with physical education teachers to help children adopt eating and activity behaviors that promote energy balance and prevent weight gain. HSP collaborators include the ADA Foundation, PE4Life and the American Council for Fitness & Nutrition (ACFN) Foundation.

Even as obesity rates level off, we must continue to work "downstream" to ensure that children grow into adulthood with deep-seated values regarding the healthful balance between eating and activity and the tools needed to achieve that balance.