[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 7197-7199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-3220]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 32 / Thursday, February 18, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 7197]]

                Memorandum of February 9, 2010

                
Establishing a Task Force on Childhood Obesity

                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies

                Across our country, childhood obesity has reached 
                epidemic rates and, as a result, our children may live 
                shorter lives than their parents. Obesity has been 
                recognized as a problem for decades, but efforts to 
                address this crisis to date have been insufficient. My 
                Administration is committed to redoubling our efforts 
                to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a 
                generation through a comprehensive approach that builds 
                on effective strategies, engages families and 
                communities, and mobilizes both public and private 
                sector resources.

                Nearly one third of children in America are overweight 
                or obese--a rate that has tripled in adolescents and 
                more than doubled in younger children since 1980. One 
                third of all individuals born in the year 2000 or later 
                will eventually suffer from diabetes over the course of 
                their lifetime, while too many others will face chronic 
                obesity-related health problems such as heart disease, 
                high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. Without 
                effective intervention, many more children will endure 
                serious illnesses that will put a strain on our health-
                care system. We must act now to improve the health of 
                our Nation's children and avoid spending billions of 
                dollars treating preventable disease.

                Therefore, I have set a goal to solve the problem of 
                childhood obesity within a generation so that children 
                born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight. 
                The First Lady will lead a national public awareness 
                effort to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity. She 
                will encourage involvement by actors from every 
                sector--the public, nonprofit, and private sectors, as 
                well as parents and youth--to help support and amplify 
                the work of the Federal Government in improving the 
                health of our children. But to meet our goal, we must 
                accelerate implementation of successful strategies that 
                will prevent and combat obesity. Such strategies 
                include updating child nutrition policies in a way that 
                addresses the best available scientific information, 
                ensuring access to healthy, affordable food in schools 
                and communities, as well as increasing physical 
                activity and empowering parents and caregivers with the 
                information and tools they need to make good choices 
                for themselves and their families. To succeed, these 
                efforts must be strategically targeted, and 
                accountability should be clear. They will help our 
                children develop lifelong healthy habits, ensuring they 
                reach their greatest potential toward building a 
                healthier and more prosperous America. To these ends, I 
                hereby direct the following:

                Section 1. Establishment of the Task Force on Childhood 
                Obesity. There is established a Task Force on Childhood 
                Obesity (Task Force) to develop an interagency action 
                plan to solve the problem of obesity among our Nation's 
                children within a generation. The Assistant to the 
                President for Domestic Policy shall serve as Chair of 
                the Task Force.

                    (a) Membership of the Task Force. In addition to 
                the Chair, the Task Force shall consist of the 
                following members, or any senior official designated by 
                one of the following members who is a part of the 
                member's department, agency, or office, and who is a 
                full time officer or employee of the Federal 
                Government:

(1) the Secretary of the Interior;

[[Page 7198]]

(2) the Secretary of Agriculture;

(3) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

(4) the Secretary of Education;

(5) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(6) the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady;

(7) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; and

(8) the heads of other executive departments, agencies, or offices as the 
Chair may designate.

                    At the direction of the Chair, the Task Force may 
                establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Task 
                Force members or their designees under this section, as 
                appropriate.
                    (b) Administration of the Task Force. The 
                Department of Health and Human Services shall provide 
                funding and administrative support for the Task Force 
                to the extent permitted by law and within existing 
                appropriations.

                Sec. 2. Mission and Functions of the Task Force. The 
                Task Force shall work across executive departments and 
                agencies to develop a coordinated Federal response 
                while also identifying nongovernmental actions that can 
                be taken to solve the problem of childhood obesity 
                within a generation. The functions of the Task Force 
                are advisory only and shall include, but are not 
                limited to, making recommendations to meet the 
                following objectives:

                    (a) ensuring access to healthy, affordable food;
                    (b) increasing physical activity in schools and 
                communities;
                    (c) providing healthier food in schools; and
                    (d) empowering parents with information and tools 
                to make good choices for themselves and their families.

                Sec. 3. Interagency Action Plan. Within 90 days of the 
                date of this memorandum, the Task Force shall develop 
                and submit to the President a comprehensive interagency 
                plan that:

                    (a) details a coordinated strategy by executive 
                departments and agencies to meet the objectives of the 
                Task Force and identifies areas for reform to ensure 
                complementary efforts and avoid duplication, both 
                across the Federal Government and between other public 
                or nongovernmental actors;
                    (b) includes comprehensive, multi-sectoral 
                strategies from each member executive department, 
                agency, or office and describes the status and scope of 
                its efforts to achieve this goal;
                    (c) identifies key benchmarks and provides for 
                regular measurement, assessment, and reporting of 
                executive branch efforts to combat childhood obesity;
                    (d) describes a coordinated action plan for 
                identifying relevant evidence gaps and conducting or 
                facilitating needed research to fill those gaps;
                    (e) assists in the assessment and development of 
                legislative, budgetary, and policy proposals that can 
                improve the health and well-being of children, their 
                families, and communities; and
                    (f) describes potential areas of collaboration with 
                other public or nongovernmental actors, taking into 
                consideration the types of implementation or research 
                objectives the Federal Government, other public actors, 
                or nongovernmental actors may be particularly well-
                situated to accomplish.

                Sec. 4. Outreach. Consistent with the objectives set 
                out in this memorandum, the Task Force, in accordance 
                with applicable law, and in addition to regular 
                meetings, shall conduct outreach with representatives 
                of private and nonprofit organizations, State, tribal 
                and local authorities, and other interested persons 
                that can assist with the Task Force's development of a 
                detailed set of recommendations to solve the problem of 
                childhood obesity.

                Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) The heads of executive 
                departments and agencies shall assist and provide 
                information to the Task Force, consistent

[[Page 7199]]

                with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out 
                the functions of the Task Force. Each executive 
                department, agency, and office shall bear its own 
                expense for participating in the Task Force.

                    (b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed 
                to impair or otherwise affect:

  (i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the 
head thereof; or

  (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent 
                with applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does 
                not, create any right or benefit, substantive or 
                procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 
                party against the United States, its departments, 
                agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or 
                agents, or any other person.

                Sec. 6. Publication. The Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services is authorized and directed to publish this 
                memorandum in the Federal Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    WASHINGTON, February 9, 2010

[FR Doc. 2010-3220
Filed 2-17-10; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4110-60-P