Let's Move! Campaign

The Let’s Move! campaign was a public health initiative designed to promote physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits among children. The effort was launched in 2010 by former First Lady Michelle Obama. The program worked with schools to restructure school lunches and increase the amount of physical activity that children received during school hours. It also prompted restaurants and food manufacturers to change how nutrition information is displayed on packages and urged food providers to serve smaller portions. As part of the campaign, President Barak Obama also established a Task Force on Childhood Obesity to address the growing problem among the nation’s young people.

Let’s Move! was developed in response to a rise in childhood obesity in the United States. Much of the problem was attributed to lifestyle changes in American society. Research had shown the nation’s children had become less active and less likely to participate in activities that provided exercise. At the same time, children were also eating less healthy food and were exposed to influences that promoted unhealthy food choices. Let’s Move! sought to change exercise and eating habits among America’s children by promoting physical activity, healthier food choices, and raising awareness of nutritional information.

Background

Prior to the rising popularity of television, video games, and other electronic devices in the mid- to late-twentieth century, the average American child led a far more active lifestyle. Many of the activities typically enjoyed by children involved physical activity such as playing sports or outdoor games. During school hours, children took part in physical education classes, played during recess, and many walked to and from school.

In 1953, a report found that about 56 percent of American children could not pass a standard fitness test. In response, President Dwight Eisenhower established the President’s Council of Youth Fitness in 1956 to study the issue and create a national fitness testing program in the nation’s schools. The original test included pull-ups, sit-ups, a standing broad jump, shuttle run, a 50-yard dash, softball throw, and 600-yard run. The test had been revamped a number of times since Eisenhower’s term until it was eventually phased out in the 2010s.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children ages five to seventeen should participate in at least sixty minutes of exercise a day. Any exercise exceeding those sixty minutes would provide additional benefits. Despite these guidelines and government efforts to promote fitness, studies have found that most children do not achieve the recommended amount of exercise. In the twenty-first century, children between eight and eighteen spend an average of more than seven hours a day watching television, playing video games, or consuming media from computers or mobile devices. These are primarily stationary activities and are often accompanied by eating and drinking.

These lifestyle changes have resulted in a drastic rise in childhood obesity in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of obese children and teens in the United States has more than tripled since the 1970s and about one third of American children are medically overweight. If the problem remains unchecked, experts warn that American children will be at a higher risk of developing health problems related to obesity, such as diabetes.

Overview

As part of the effort to combat the obesity problem, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the creation of the Let’s Move! campaign on February 9, 2010. The overarching goals of the campaign were to encourage children to lead healthier lives by exercise more and cutting back on food portions and unhealthy food choices. One of the campaign’s primary missions was to raise awareness of childhood obesity by engaging in media campaigns across the United States. The campaigns informed parents and educators about childhood obesity rates, the complications that may arise later in life, and preventative measures to limit childhood obesity.

During the early days of the campaign, Obama reached out to food manufacturers and discouraged the marketing of unhealthy foods to children and pushed for reducing the amount of sugar and salt in children’s foods. Obama also asked restaurants and schools to increase the nutritional quality of children’s meals and reduce portion sizes to provide for a more appropriate amount of calories served.

The Let’s Move! campaign also touted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, a 2010 law that provided funding for school meal and nutrition programs. The law updated nutrition standards to bring them into line with modern scientific research. It encouraged schools to offer healthier foods and snacks and enforced nutrition standards for foods marketed to children in schools. The program also increased students’ access to fruits and vegetables by providing salad bars at some schools.

The campaign made nutritional information more easily accessible to families in hopes of promoting healthier food choices. Let’s Move! helped redesign the nutrition facts labels that are mandatory on packaged food, improving the layout of the data and making it easier to read. The program helped launch the US Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate program, which informed both children and adults of the proper amounts of each food group that should be part of their daily diet. Michelle Obama also appeared on the popular children’s television program Sesame Street to promote healthy lifestyle choices.

In addition to its focus on diets, Let’s Move! worked with schools to increase the amount of physical activity that students engaged in during the day. The campaign coordinated with the Department of the Interior to launch Let’s Move! Outside, a program that encouraged children to engage in outdoor activities and hobbies. Additionally, Obama helped launch Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties, which partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to help elected officials across the country improve the health of their constituents.

Bibliography

“Achievements,” Let’s Move!, letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/achievements. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

Eschmeyer, Debra. “Onward,” Let’s Move!, 4 Jan. 2017, letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

Howard, Jacqueline. “Childhood Obesity is Getting Worse, Study Says.” CNN, 13 Mar. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/02/26/health/childhood-obesity-in-the-us-study/index.html. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

“Learn The Facts,” Let’s Move!, letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

McKinney, Kelsey. “60 Years of Presidential Fitness Campaigns, and Obesity is Worse Than Ever,” Vox, 23 June 2014, www.vox.com/2014/6/23/5828388/60-years-of-presidential-fitness-campaigns-and-obesity-is-worse-than. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

Nestle, Marion. “Happy Birthday Let’s Move!” Food Politics, 8 Feb. 2011, www.foodpolitics.com/2011/02/happy-birthday-lets-move/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

Nestle, Marion. “The Political Savvy of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign,” Atlantic, 2 Feb. 2012, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/the-political-savvy-of-michelle-obamas-lets-move-campaign/252698/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.

“Timeline: Michelle Obama’s Anti-Obesity Campaign,” The Telegraph, 15 Feb. 2011, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/michelle-obama/8326721/Timeline-Michelle-Obamas-anti-obesity-campaign.html. Accessed 5 Mar. 2019.