National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) Part of Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to battle childhood obesity
By Elena Rios | Monday, March 1st, 2010
First Lady Michelle Obama recently launched a nationwide campaign to lower childhood obesity, citing that one-third of U.S. children are overweight. NHMA is proud to be invited to partner with the First Lady and the White House in this effort.
The Let’s Move campaign will combat childhood obesity by focusing on four main strategies: helping parents make health family choices, providing healthier food options in schools, promoting physical activity and ensuring that low-income urban and rural areas have access to healthy and affordable food.
One in four Latino youth is overweight, and the result has been an alarming increase in Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure among children. The causes are numerous and range from a lack of supermarkets in Hispanic neighborhoods to disparities in access to health services. But regardless of the barriers, this growing trend must end.
The mission of Let’s Move is to solve the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. That’s an ambitious goal, and one that is going to require cooperation between governments, organizations, companies, schools and families at every level. NHMA is committed to doing our part to fight childhood obesity and will be working with the White House and our other partners to educate Latino communities on healthy lifestyles for children – everything from learning how to make smart grocery purchases to finding safe outdoor options for physical activity.
I’d love to hear your ideas for lowering childhood obesity too. What healthy lifestyle measures have worked in your family or community? Let me know!







