Today, the First Lady joined the Walt Disney Company to announce a big win for America’s families: Disney has become the first major media company to introduce new standards for food advertising and programming targeting kids and families. All of foods marketed on Disney’s television and radio channels will be required to meet Disney’s nutrition guidelines – which align with federal standards to promote fruit and vegetables and limit calories, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat – by 2015.

The members of UrbanPromise in Camden, New Jersey have been motivating their community to be active for years through their annual Pedal for Promise bike ride.  Pedal for Promise raises money for the UrbanPromise Academy, a private high school that helps teens who are two or three grades below average reach their academic potential.  Pedal for Promise also involves youth in a healthy, fun cycling activity. 

This week, along with Director of the National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, I announced that we’re designating 54 new water and land trails across the nation as National Recreation Trails.  With this recognition, we’re adding almost 1,400 miles to the National Trails System that already travels more than 13,650 miles across our great country.  Spanning 23 states, these new trails are making it easier to communities to get outside and get active.

First Lady Michelle Obama was thinking of Sam Shihadeh and Rose Fakhoury when she challenged faith-based and community organizations to appoint wellness ambassadors. Sam, a personal trainer and council member of the Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Washington DC, and Rose, the Director of St. George’s Sunday School, joined forces to lead, organize and take action to improve health and wellness in their community.  St. George Church hosted a Let’s Move! event on May 5, 2012 to get their community members eating healthy foods, moving and working to combat childhood obesity. As a congregation inspired to fight obesity, the church practices what it preaches. The event kicked off with children racing through an outdoor obstacle course.  During the day attendees heard from a diverse group of panelists such as doctors, personal trainers, and a registered dietitian, on the importance of leading a healthy life.  I joined Paul Monteiro of the White House Office of Public Engagement to share more about the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. 

Today at 1:30 PM EDT, the White House will host a panel discussion of leaders who have contributed to the progress of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! in Indian Country initiative and whose work can be expanded across Indian Country.  The discussion will be streamed online at www.WhiteHouse.gov/live. As a key component of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, Let’s Move! in Indian Country focuses on four pillars that are essential to building a healthy future for American Indian and Alaska Native youth: • Creating a Healthy start on Life, • Creating Healthy Learning Communities, • Fostering Healthy, Comprehensive Food Systems Policies, and • Increasing Opportunities for Physical Activity

Calling all kid chefs: The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge invites parents of kids ages 8-12 to submit an original recipe for a lunch that is nutritious and delicious. All entrants have the chance to win a trip to Washington D.C. and the opportunity to be invited to attend a Kids' “State Dinner” at the White House in August, where a selection of the winning healthy recipes will be served.   Let's Move! is teaming up with Epicurious, the Department of Education and USDA to find great lunch ideas that are healthy, affordable, and -- of course -- tasty. "We all want to ensure that our kids are eating nutritious, delicious food at every meal, and as a mom I know that parents are always looking for new ideas to make that happen,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “With parents and kids all across the country getting creative in the kitchen, I know we'll find healthy meals that every family will enjoy.  And I can’t wait to try the kids’ creations myself.”

First Lady Michelle Obama understands that fighting obesity requires a multi-faceted approach, which is why the Let's Move! initiative focuses on many ways to help children be healthy.  How we shop at the grocery store can have a huge impact on our budget.  That’s why one of the pillars of the Let’s Move! initiative is making sure that healthy foods are affordable and accessible.  A commonly held belief is that eating healthy foods is more expensive than eating less healthy foods.  But that depends on how you measure the cost of food, according to a new report published by USDA’s Economic Research Service. The researchers compared the price of food based on three different metrics: the price per calorie, the price per edible weight, and the price per average portion.  They concluded that even though healthy foods, like fruits, vegetables, and certain grains and dairy products, are more expensive when priced per calorie, they are less expensive than most protein foods and foods high in saturated fat, added sugar and/or sodium when food is priced by either edible weight or average portion. What this means is that healthy foods are not more expensive than unhealthy foods when comparing prices using an alternative measure to price per calorie.