Let’s Move! Child Care Reaches Over 12,000 Providers Committed to Instilling Healthy Habits for Life

Kelly Miterko
February 28, 2014
11:30 AM EDT
First Lady Michelle Obama joins children for a Super Sprowtz show, a "Let's Move!" event at La Petite Academy child care center in Bowie, Md., Feb. 27, 2014.

First Lady Michelle Obama joins children for a Super Sprowtz show, a "Let's Move!" event at La Petite Academy child care center in Bowie, Md., Feb. 27, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Ed. note. This is cross-posted from the Let's Move blog. See the original post here.

This week, First Lady Michelle Obama visited a local child care center to highlight the progress of Let’s Move! Child Care and recognize a new child care provider signing on to support the program. Since launching in 2011, over 12,000 providers have committed to fostering healthy environments and instilling healthy habits among our nation’s preschoolers that will last a lifetime. Through Let’s Move! Child Care, providers are increasing physical activity, limiting screen time, serving healthier food and beverages, and supporting breastfeeding mothers. More than 1 million children are being reached by early childhood education networks that have committed to Let’s Move! Child Care.

Kelly Miterko is the Deputy Associate Director of Let's Move!
Related Topics: Healthy Kids, Maryland

West Wing Week 02/28/14 or "I Am My Brother's Keeper"

Adam Garber
Adam Garber
February 28, 2014
12:00 AM EDT

This week, the President announced two new manufacturing hubs, and his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, toured a new light rail system in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spoke on the importance of supporting American infrastructure jobs. The First Lady celebrated the fourth anniversary of her "Let's Move" Initiative with both Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, while the Vice President kicked off the inaugural episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Related Topics: Jobs, Manufacturing, Economy, Health Care, Inside the White House, Minnesota

West Wing Week 02/28/14 or "I Am My Brother's Keeper"

February 27, 2014 | 5:48

This week, the President announced two new manufacturing hubs, and his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, toured a new light rail system in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spoke on the importance of supporting American infrastructure jobs. The First Lady celebrated the fourth anniversary of her "Let's Move" Initiative with both Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, while the Vice President kicked off the inaugural episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Download mp4 (198.9MB)

The First Lady Announces Updates to Nutrition Fact Labels

February 27, 2014 | 17:29 | Public Domain

First Lady Michelle Obama discusses proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts label. These updates would help provide parents and families with access to information that helps them make healthier choices.

Download mp4 (644MB) | mp3 (17MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the First Lady on a Nutrition Facts Label Announcement

East Room

11:22 A.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA:  Good morning, everyone.  It’s great to have you all here.  Let me start by thanking Shanese for that very kind introduction and for her wonderful remarks.  Let me just say, Shanese, when we heard in the back that you were a grandmother, everybody was like, really?  She’s a grandmother?  (Laughter.)  We thought you were a teenager.  (Laughter.)  See what eating healthy does?  (Laughter.)  But it’s great to have you here.  Thank you so much for working so hard to keep your family in shape and healthy.  We’re very proud of you, very proud of you.

I also want to thank Secretary Sebelius and Commissioner Hamburg for their outstanding leadership as well as your entire teams.  It takes a whole lot of people to get all of this done.  And we are grateful for you all, your leadership and for their efforts.  Thank you so much for being here today.  (Applause.)

And we are also joined by one of my dear friends and a fabulous advocate, Rachael Ray.  Rachael, where -- Rachael!  There you are.  (Applause.)  Rachael Ray, who has done so much great work for Let’s Move.  Yes!  Thank you, Rachael.  We’re going to do something fun shortly, you ready? 

MS. RAY:  Ready.

MRS. OBAMA:  All right, I’ll wear my flat shoes for you. (Laughter.)  And of course, I want to thank all of you -- the parents, the advocates, the industry leaders who worked so hard to make this day possible.  Congratulations.  This is a good day, it’s a great announcement. 

And back when we first launched Let’s Move four years ago, all of us here today were driven by a simple belief:  that parents deserve to have the information they need to make healthy choices for their kids.  And this isn’t a particularly radical idea; in fact, it seems pretty obvious.  But the truth is that too often, it’s nearly impossible to get the most basic facts about the food we buy for our families.

For example, how many of you have at some point in your life made a statement that you were going to eat better?  Maybe you wanted to lose a little weight, maybe you wanted to improve your family’s nutrition, maybe there were health issues in your family that required you to watch what you ate.  Whatever the reason, you resolved to read those labels and only buy foods that you believed would be good for you and your kids.  So you marched into the supermarket, you picked up a can or a box of something, you squinted at that little tiny label, and you were totally and utterly lost. 

So there you stood, alone in some aisle in a store, the clock ticking away at the precious little time remaining to complete your weekly grocery shopping, and all you could do was scratch your head, confused and bewildered, and wonder, is there too much sugar in this product?  Is 50 percent of the daily allowance of riboflavin a good thing or a bad thing?  And how on Earth could this teeny little package contain five whole servings? 

This stream of questions and worries running through your head when all you really wanted to know was, should I be eating this or not?  Is this good for my kids or not?  And if it is healthy, how much of it should I be eating?  But unless you had a thesaurus, a calculator, a microscope, or a degree in nutrition, you were out of luck.  So you felt defeated, and you just gave up and went back to buying the same stuff you always buy.

And that’s a familiar scenario for far too many families and parents trying to do the right thing for their kids -- and it’s simply not acceptable.  As consumers and as parents, we have a right to understand what’s in the food we’re feeding our families.  Because that’s really the only way that we can make informed choices -- by having clear, accurate information.  And ultimately, that’s what today’s announcement is all about. 

As you’ve heard, today, for the first time since the nutrition label was developed two decades ago, we’re overhauling these labels to make them easier to read and understand.  And this is a major undertaking involving folks from across the country, from the FDA to the food industry to advocates throughout communities in this country.  Because a lot has changed in the past twenty years.  Just consider all the new information we’ve learned about nutrition and healthy eating during that time period.  Not to mention, this label appears on roughly 700,000 products. 

But in the end, our guiding principle here is simple:  that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an item off the shelf, and tell whether it’s good for your family.  To achieve this goal, in the coming months, the FDA will be soliciting comments from the public on the two possible options that you see behind me. 

Now, I know there will be many opinions on what this label should look like, but I think that we all can agree that families deserve more and better information about the food they eat.  And it’s important to note that no matter what the final version looks like, the new label will allow you to immediately spot the calorie count because it will be in large font, and not buried in the fine print.  You’ll also learn more about where the sugar in the food comes from -- like whether the sugar in your yogurt was added during processing or whether it comes from ingredients like fruits.  This is what you will get from the label of the future.  This will be the new norm in providing consumers with information about the food we buy and eat. 

So this is a huge deal, which is why everybody is here.  (Laughter.)  And it’s going to make a big difference for families across this country.  So today, I want to end as I started by truly thanking the FDA and everyone else involved in this important effort.  I am excited to see all the comments that come in over the coming months.  And I look forward to celebrating the final label, and then ultimately seeing it on grocery shelves across the country in the years to come.

So congratulations, you all.  Great work.  Let’s keep pushing.  There is more to do.  As Secretary Sebelius said, we are starting to see some change.  We are nowhere near the end of this road, but with every little bit that we do we make a huge difference. 

So congratulations once again, and keep up the great work.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)

END
11:29 A.M. EST

Close Transcript

Helping Families Make Healthier Choices: FDA to Update Nutrition Facts Label

AJ Pearlman
February 27, 2014
05:06 PM EDT
First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks announcing proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts label during a "Let's Move!" event in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 27, 2014.

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks announcing proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts label during a "Let's Move!" event in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 27, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Ed. note. This is cross-posted from the Let's Move blog. See the original post here.

This morning at the White House, the celebration of Let’s Move!’s fourth anniversary continued with another announcement demonstrating how the country is moving toward a healthier new norm. As part of continued efforts to ensure that parents have the information they need to make healthier choices, the First Lady was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to announce proposed updates to the Nutrition Facts label, which is on over 700,000 products that you find in your local grocery store. 

AJ Pearlman is Associate Director for Policy for Let's Move!
Related Topics:

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2014

Remarks by the First Lady at Let's Move! Child Care Event

La Petite Academy
Bowie, Maryland 

2:26 P.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA:  I came out here to take a picture with all of you -- but because this daycare center that you guys get to go to is doing so good at making you guys healthy and making sure that you’re running around and staying active.  Because one of the things we learn is that if you guys stay active -- healthy, you’ll grow up to be healthy adults like all of our friends here.  These are grown-up vegetables.  (Laughter.)  And they started out as little bitty vegetables just like you.  And because they kept eating right and exercising, they grew up to be really big and strong.  And that’s what Let’s Move is all about -- it’s making sure that you guys grow up big and strong.

And we just got some great statistics that show that the obesity rate among kids this age is declining.  (Applause.)  And it’s because of the work that you all are doing here.  It’s this kind of work that is helping to get those results for kids across the country.

So we wanted to come here and highlight the great work that you’re doing.  We’re so proud of you guys.  Give yourselves a big round of applause.  (Applause.) 

END                 
2:28 P.M. EST

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2014

First Lady Michelle Obama Applauds Learning Care Group's Commitment to Creating Healthier Child Care Environments

Major child care provider commits to implement nutrition and physical activity standards that align with Let’s Move! Child Care goals

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, First Lady Michelle Obama joins the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) and Learning Care Group to announce Learning Care Group’s commitment to providing a healthier environment at 900 schools across the country.  Working with PHA and the Nemours Foundation, Learning Care Group will implement best practices that align with Let’s Move! Child Care goals in five areas: physical activity, screen time, food and beverages, infant feeding, and parent engagement. 

To highlight this announcement, the First Lady is visiting La Petite Academy in Bowie, Maryland, a member of the Learning Care Group family, where she will engage in physical activity and eat healthy snacks with children at the center.  Last year, the CDC found that obesity rates among low-income preschoolers declined in 19 states and territories across the country, including Maryland, for the first time in decades. 

“Healthier eating and regular physical activity are becoming the new norm for children across the country,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “I am thrilled about Learning Care Group’s new commitment to implement best practices in schools across our country to instill healthy habits in our children from a young age.”

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the release of a CDC report which found that the prevalence of obesity in children ages 2 to 5 has declined 43% over the past 10 years.  Learning Care Group’s commitment to make their school environments even healthier will play a vital role in continued efforts to reduce obesity prevalence.

Since Let’s Move! launched in 2010, organizations across the country have joined the First Lady in her efforts to encourage children to eat healthy and get active.  Helping kids develop healthy habits in their earliest years is vital to their future health. Since many young children spend the majority of their day in child care, it is critical that these centers are healthy environments where parents can rest assured that the hard work they are doing at home to keep their kids healthy will be reinforced when they are in child care. 

“We were so honored to have First Lady Michelle Obama with us today at La Petite Academy as we reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring a healthy environment for all of the young children in our care,” said Learning Care Group CEO Barbara Beck. “Through our internal Grow Fit initiative, we’ve made healthy living a daily part of our school culture. Now, together with the Partnership for a Healthier America and Let’s Move! Child Care, we’re providing a solid foundation for lifelong fitness for children nationwide.”

Specifically, over the next three years, Learning Care Group is committing to:

  • Promote healthy eating by serving fruits and/or vegetables at a minimum of two meals or snack per day, eliminating fried foods, and encouraging kids to drink water.
  • Provide at least one hour of physical activity each day and work with parents and caregivers to limit children to no more than one hour of screen time per day.
  • Inform parents about healthy eating and physical activity through materials and events and supporting mothers who wish to continue breastfeeding.

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2014

Remarks by the First Lady on a Nutrition Facts Label Announcement

East Room

11:22 A.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA:  Good morning, everyone.  It’s great to have you all here.  Let me start by thanking Shanese for that very kind introduction and for her wonderful remarks.  Let me just say, Shanese, when we heard in the back that you were a grandmother, everybody was like, really?  She’s a grandmother?  (Laughter.)  We thought you were a teenager.  (Laughter.)  See what eating healthy does?  (Laughter.)  But it’s great to have you here.  Thank you so much for working so hard to keep your family in shape and healthy.  We’re very proud of you, very proud of you.

I also want to thank Secretary Sebelius and Commissioner Hamburg for their outstanding leadership as well as your entire teams.  It takes a whole lot of people to get all of this done.  And we are grateful for you all, your leadership and for their efforts.  Thank you so much for being here today.  (Applause.)

And we are also joined by one of my dear friends and a fabulous advocate, Rachael Ray.  Rachael, where -- Rachael!  There you are.  (Applause.)  Rachael Ray, who has done so much great work for Let’s Move.  Yes!  Thank you, Rachael.  We’re going to do something fun shortly, you ready? 

MS. RAY:  Ready.

MRS. OBAMA:  All right, I’ll wear my flat shoes for you. (Laughter.)  And of course, I want to thank all of you -- the parents, the advocates, the industry leaders who worked so hard to make this day possible.  Congratulations.  This is a good day, it’s a great announcement. 

And back when we first launched Let’s Move four years ago, all of us here today were driven by a simple belief:  that parents deserve to have the information they need to make healthy choices for their kids.  And this isn’t a particularly radical idea; in fact, it seems pretty obvious.  But the truth is that too often, it’s nearly impossible to get the most basic facts about the food we buy for our families.

For example, how many of you have at some point in your life made a statement that you were going to eat better?  Maybe you wanted to lose a little weight, maybe you wanted to improve your family’s nutrition, maybe there were health issues in your family that required you to watch what you ate.  Whatever the reason, you resolved to read those labels and only buy foods that you believed would be good for you and your kids.  So you marched into the supermarket, you picked up a can or a box of something, you squinted at that little tiny label, and you were totally and utterly lost. 

So there you stood, alone in some aisle in a store, the clock ticking away at the precious little time remaining to complete your weekly grocery shopping, and all you could do was scratch your head, confused and bewildered, and wonder, is there too much sugar in this product?  Is 50 percent of the daily allowance of riboflavin a good thing or a bad thing?  And how on Earth could this teeny little package contain five whole servings? 

This stream of questions and worries running through your head when all you really wanted to know was, should I be eating this or not?  Is this good for my kids or not?  And if it is healthy, how much of it should I be eating?  But unless you had a thesaurus, a calculator, a microscope, or a degree in nutrition, you were out of luck.  So you felt defeated, and you just gave up and went back to buying the same stuff you always buy.

And that’s a familiar scenario for far too many families and parents trying to do the right thing for their kids -- and it’s simply not acceptable.  As consumers and as parents, we have a right to understand what’s in the food we’re feeding our families.  Because that’s really the only way that we can make informed choices -- by having clear, accurate information.  And ultimately, that’s what today’s announcement is all about. 

As you’ve heard, today, for the first time since the nutrition label was developed two decades ago, we’re overhauling these labels to make them easier to read and understand.  And this is a major undertaking involving folks from across the country, from the FDA to the food industry to advocates throughout communities in this country.  Because a lot has changed in the past twenty years.  Just consider all the new information we’ve learned about nutrition and healthy eating during that time period.  Not to mention, this label appears on roughly 700,000 products. 

But in the end, our guiding principle here is simple:  that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an item off the shelf, and tell whether it’s good for your family.  To achieve this goal, in the coming months, the FDA will be soliciting comments from the public on the two possible options that you see behind me. 

Now, I know there will be many opinions on what this label should look like, but I think that we all can agree that families deserve more and better information about the food they eat.  And it’s important to note that no matter what the final version looks like, the new label will allow you to immediately spot the calorie count because it will be in large font, and not buried in the fine print.  You’ll also learn more about where the sugar in the food comes from -- like whether the sugar in your yogurt was added during processing or whether it comes from ingredients like fruits.  This is what you will get from the label of the future.  This will be the new norm in providing consumers with information about the food we buy and eat. 

So this is a huge deal, which is why everybody is here.  (Laughter.)  And it’s going to make a big difference for families across this country.  So today, I want to end as I started by truly thanking the FDA and everyone else involved in this important effort.  I am excited to see all the comments that come in over the coming months.  And I look forward to celebrating the final label, and then ultimately seeing it on grocery shelves across the country in the years to come.

So congratulations, you all.  Great work.  Let’s keep pushing.  There is more to do.  As Secretary Sebelius said, we are starting to see some change.  We are nowhere near the end of this road, but with every little bit that we do we make a huge difference. 

So congratulations once again, and keep up the great work.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)

END
11:29 A.M. EST

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2014

The White House and FDA Announce Proposed Updates to Nutrition Facts Label

First Lady Michelle Obama and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg announce proposed updates to the Nutrition Facts label as part of an effort to help families make healthier choices 

Washington, DC – Today, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg at the White House to announce proposed revisions to the Nutrition Facts label, which has been significantly updated only once since its initial release twenty years ago.  The Nutrition Facts label is found on roughly 700,000 products.  The updates announced today support the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative in its ongoing efforts to provide parents and families with access to information that helps them make healthier choices.

“Our guiding principle here is very simple: that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into your local grocery store, pick up an item off the shelf, and be able to tell whether it’s good for your family,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.  “So this is a big deal, and it’s going to make a big difference for families all across this country.”

The proposed updates are intended to reflect the latest scientific information about the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.  The proposed label would also replace out-of-date serving sizes to better align with the amount consumers actually eat, and it would feature a fresh design to highlight key parts of the label such as calories and serving sizes. 

“For 20 years consumers have come to rely on the iconic nutrition label to help them make healthier food choices,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “To remain relevant, the FDA’s newly proposed Nutrition Facts label incorporates the latest in nutrition science as more has been learned about the connection between what we eat and the development of serious chronic diseases impacting millions of Americans.”

Some of the FDA’s proposed changes to the Nutrition Facts label are:

  • Require information about the amount of “added sugars” in a food product. Based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans determination that calorie intake from added sugar is too high in the U.S. population and should be reduced.  The FDA proposes to include “added sugars” on the label to help consumers know how much sugar has been added to the product. 
  • Update serving size requirements to reflect the amounts people currently eat. What and how much people eat and drink has changed since the serving sizes were first put into place in 1994.  By law, serving sizes must be based on the portion consumers actually eat, rather than the amount they “should” be eating.
  • Present calorie and nutrition information for the whole package of certain food products that could be consumed in one sitting or in multiple sittings.
  • Refresh the format to emphasize certain elements, such as calories, serving sizes and Percent Daily Value, which are important in addressing current public health problems like obesity and heart disease. 

To find out more information about today’s announcement, go to http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm385663.htm

 

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
February 26, 2014

Obesity Rates on the Decline Among Young Children

New CDC study shows significant decline in prevalence of obesity over a sustained period of time

Washington, DC – As the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative celebrates its fourth anniversary, we are seeing real progress. A new study out this week shows that the rates of childhood obesity are beginning to decline among children ages two to five.  Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report showing a forty-three percent drop in the obesity rate among children of preschool age over the past decade. 

“I couldn’t be more excited by the news that obesity rates for 2-5 year olds declined by 43% over the last 10 years.  Progress of this magnitude can only be explained by the leadership and hard work we are seeing across this country,” Mrs. Obama said.  “From parents to teachers, doctors to community leaders, everyone is stepping up to make small changes that are having a huge impact – and today, healthy habits are becoming the new norm for our kids. We have a long way to go, but I am more confident than ever that we can give all our children the bright, healthy futures they deserve.”

This new report follows CDC’s findings from last summer, which showed that obesity rates among low-income preschoolers declined in 19 states and territories across the country. 

Getting kids off to a healthy start is absolutely critical to their long term health.   We have made early childhood a top priority of Let’s Move!.  In 2011, Let’s Move! Child Care was started to empower child care and early education providers to help give kids a healthy start to life.  The program encourages 1-2 hours of physical activity, reduce screen time, serve healthy food such as fruits and vegetables as snacks, no fried foods, and only non-sugar sweetened beverages like water and low fat milk, and support mothers who continue to breastfeed.

There is tremendous progress being made, but much work remains.  Simple actions by parents can have a major impact on their kid’s health.  As part of our continued efforts through Let’s Move! Child Care, here are four simple tips for parents who are working hard to keep their kids healthy:

  1. If you can breastfeed, breastfeed.
  2. Fill half your kids’ plates with fruits and vegetables.
  3. Serve your kids only water or low-fat milk.
  4. Make sure your kids get at least 60 minutes of active play every day.