First Lady Michelle Obama has announced guidelines regarding the new “Let’s Move” campaign, which is intended to promote healthy living habits to reduce childhood obesity rates. The program will entail recommendations to parents, children and schools regarding healthy eating, physical activity and nutrition education.
“This report also contains these steps, but many others -– more than 70 -– including measurable benchmarks for tracking the progress. So if we do our jobs, and if we meet the goals we’ve set, we will reverse a 30-year trend and solve the problem of childhood obesity in America,” Obama said in a statement.
The program aims to reduce the rate of childhood obesity from 20 percent to 5 percent by 2030.
Childhood obesity increases the risk of developing other serious conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. These conditions may lower a child’s life expectancy below that of their parents, according to WebMD. Once an unhealthy child becomes an unhealthy adult, these serious medical conditions could increase their mortality risk and raise their health insurance and life insurance rates.
