    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [February 1, 2007]
    [Pages 91-92]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to a Meeting on Childhood Obesity
    February 1, 2007

        The President. Laura and I are so pleased to
    welcome the Ad Council, as well as leaders from our business community,
    to talk about a serious American problem, and that is childhood obesity.
        Childhood obesity is a costly problem for the country. It puts
    stress on American families. And we believe it is necessary to come up
    with a coherent strategy to help folks all throughout our society cope
    with the issue. And I appreciate the Secretary being here. Thanks for coming, Mr. Secretary.
        We'll discuss--one of the strategies is to have the Ad Council put
    on an interesting series of ads encouraging children to exercise. One
    way for this Nation to cope with the issue of obesity is to get people
    outside, whether it be through sports or hiking or conservation. So
    we'll encourage them to do that, encourage parents to encourage their
    children to participate in the great outdoors. We'll also talk about
    healthy diet choices here.
        And so I want to thank you all for coming. It's a serious issue that
    we take seriously here at the Government.
        Laura is off to New York to kick off the
    program to help deal with heart disease here. And you might want to say
    a few words.

    [[Page 92]]

    [At this point, the First Lady made brief remarks.]

        The President. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of Health and
    Human Services Michael O. Leavitt. The transcript released by the Office
    of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of the First Lady. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of these remarks.