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Recreation and Park Association and the Partnership for a Healthier America to announce a new commitment to provide healthy snacks and physical activity to 5 million kids that participate in after school programs.
• I am pleased to be a part of the ever-building momentum towards healthier schools and healthier kids, and I am happy to say that we continue to see the fruits of our labor. Just this week, the Centers for Disease Control released a new study that shows that over the past decade, the obesity rate among young kids ages 2 to 5 has declined by 43 percent.
• That is impressive progress, and while I know that the changes we have made help, none of this would be possible without parents and caregivers. They make decisions each and every day in the best interests of their children--and we back them up. They no longer have to worry about what their kids eat at school. Breakfast, lunch and snacks at school reinforce the nutrition lessons moms and dads teach at home. The school environment focuses on learning and achievement, without the distraction of unhealthy foods and mixed nutrition messages.
• More than anything, collectively, we are giving our next generation the gift of health. Investing in good nutrition and healthy habits today helps our kids grow up to be the smart, strong, capable leaders of tomorrow.