Wilmington, Del. – Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) celebrates the announcement of First Lady Michelle Obama’s new Let’s Move initiative to fight childhood obesity. Reducing childhood obesity will require both increased physical activity and better nutrition, including lots of fruits and vegetables. We at PBH look forward to working with the fruit and vegetable industry as well as our federal, state, and local public health partners to encourage more American’s to increase their intake of healthy fruits and vegetables to help them achieve and maintain a healthy weight and manage their risk for chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
The Let’s Move initiative contains four action areas that all work together to influence the health of America’s children; Healthy Choices, Healthier Schools, Physical Activity, and Accessible & Affordable Healthy Food. The Let’s Move initiative can be found online at www.letsmove.gov/index.html. PBH was pleased to note that Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move initiative contains numerous references to fruits and vegetables and the role they have to play in its success. In fact, the CDC Fruits & Veggies-More Matters website is already linked from the letsmove.gov site, offering suggestions to eat more. For additional advice on adding more fruits and vegetables to meals and snacks, visit www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org.
“The idea that this generation of children might not live as long as their parents is indeed alarming,” said Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D., R.D., president and CEO of PBH. “The obesity epidemic is top of mind for us at PBH and we know that by leading people to eat more fruits and vegetables, we can collectively help turn the tide on this disturbing trend.”
PBH prepared and mailed letters of support for the Let’s Move initiative to First Lady Michelle Obama, Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. As they seek out participation from organizations who share the Let’s Move initiative’s goal of reversing childhood obesity in this generation and making good nutrition a priority for all Americans, we believe they and others will recognize PBH as an important asset to the success of the initiative.
“At PBH, we work to emphasize the health benefits of nutritious fruits & vegetables in all their forms; fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and 100 percent fruit and vegetable juice; and to encourage everyone to eat more of these nutrient dense foods in place of other foods that contain little nutritive value and are higher in calories,” said Pivonka. “We welcome the opportunity to work with First Lady Michelle Obama to improve the health of our nation’s children by improving their access to affordable, convenient and nutritious fruits and vegetables.”
Source: PBH
