"PHA commends our partners for the remarkable goals they have set"...The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), the foundation created to support First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, on Wednesday released its first-ever progress report on the success of private-sector commitments to the Let's Move! campaign, which marked its third anniversary in February. Mrs. Obama serves as honorary chair of PHA, while Sam Kass has been newly named Executive Director of Let's Move!. He also has a new title: Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy.
PHA
is now coordinating the work of close to 50 partners for Let's Move!,
including with Walmart, The Walt Disney Company, Darden Restaurants,
Inc., NIKE, Inc, US Tennis, Birds Eye, and Kaiser Permanente. The
81-page report covers activity related to childcare and early childhood
initiatives, healthy food access, increasing physical activity, and
engagement/verification of commitments to the campaign. (The report cover, above)Download: Partnership for a Healthier America's 2012 Annual Progress Report [PDF]
"Our partner organizations are making changes to their operations and their business practices that help make healthier choices easier for busy parents and families,” said PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler. "This report is about holding a mirror up to efforts against those commitments—many of which are multi-year—and giving the public a clear understanding of their progress."
"PHA commends our partners for the remarkable goals they have set to help make it easier for kids and families to make the healthy choice."
PHA listed the following as "Major Data Points" in the report:
*2.95 million kids got moving in 2012
*8,100 new physical activity opportunities became available for kids in 2012
*1,713 cities had physical activity promotion events in 2012
*141 new or renovated grocery stores or other retail locations have opened in or around food deserts
*507,293 low-access individuals have been served by new or renovated grocery stores so far
*$18 million has been spent in the last 18 months in financing for new retail channels and innovative food distribution programs
The report does not include new commitments Mrs. Obama announced during her recent third anniversary tour for the campaign, such as the MyPlate Recipe Partnership or Let's Move! Active Schools.
CLICK HERE for the White House list of "Collaborations and Milestones" for the third anniversary of Let's Move!.
The release of the report coincided with the first day of PHA's Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington, DC, which is bringing together activists, academics, corporations, and philanthropic organizations for a two-day intensive on child obesity. Mrs. Obama will deliver the keynote at the summit on Friday. Sponsors for the summit activities included Walmart, Time, Inc, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi.
*CLICK HERE for links to all Let's Move! posts.
*Photo by Chuck Kennedy/White House
