fuel up to play 60

I recently joined Jackson Middle School students in San Antonio, Texas, to help kick-off their Fuel Up to Play 60 program.  The timing was right since September was National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. 

As students across the country get back in school and we gear up for Monday Night Football, the Fuel Up to Play 60 program is ready for another action-packed year of nutrition and fitness events. An initiative that encourages kids of all ages to be healthy and active, the overall goal of the program is to tackle childhood obesity.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

St Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford joined Secretary Vilsack in the USDA People’s Garden yesterday to urge Native American youth to spend the summer pursuing healthy outdoor activities.  About 30 Native youth from across the Nation, including Tuba City, Arizona and Southeast Alaska, planted a Native American Garden (part of the USDA People’s Garden) as Bradford, Vilsack and other dignitaries spoke.

My colleague Julie Mikkelson and I are back to Chicago after a road trip across Michigan, March 22-24. We were there to recognize a number of schools for their efforts to support the First Lady’s LetsMove! initiative and the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). Our trip began in Waterford, north of Detroit, with a HUSSC Gold award celebration.  Three days, five schools, and hundreds of miles later, we ended our trip near Lansing with a HUSSC award presentation. All the schools we visited were HUSSC award winners, and everywhere we went, we saw tremendous enthusiasm and commitment to healthier students.

Now that time has started to heal the wounds of many Pittsburgh fans we thought it would be a good time to highlight some of the work we did around  Super Bowl XLV.  USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff got to participate in Fiesta de Salud (Celebration of Health) — a community fair sponsored by the League of United Latin American Citizen (LULAC) and the National Football League (NFL) in Dallas, Texas. Fiesta de Salud was one of many NFL events planned during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLV which helped promote the NFL’s anti-childhood obesity program “Play 60.”

Cross posted from the Let's Move blog:

It has been one year since First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off her Let’s Move! initiative with the goal to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. The anniversary calls for a time to reflect on its vast contributions, but to also continue the important momentum.

Since the beginning, this administration has leveraged USDA’s 15 nutrition assistance programs to improve domestic nutrition. From adults who nourish their families with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, to children who wade through lunch and breakfast lines at school—our programs touch 1 in 4 Americans.

Last week, Secretary Vilsack traveled to Dallas, Texas, home of Superbowl XLV, to meet with officials from the public and private sectors to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining a commitment to enacting healthy solutions to childhood obesity under Fuel Up to Play 60 .This partnership represents an unprecedented pledge to our kids to help get them moving toward physical fitness and health, a key element of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.

What do dairy farmers, NFL stars, and the Secretary of Agriculture have in common? They all braved the winter weather and traveled to the site of Super Bowl XLV to support the Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP60) program. FUTP60 conducted a kids’ football clinic at the NFL Experience, an interactive theme park at the Dallas Convention Center. The clinic, aimed at kids,  focused on the fundamentals to improve nutrition and physical activity in their schools and personal lives.

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

Today I had the honor of joining some of our nation’s principal thought-leaders at the site of Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, Texas, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines an unprecedented private-public partnership committed to child health and wellness.  The co-signers included myself, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NDC CEO Thomas Gallagher and Gen YOUth Foundation CEO Alexis Glick.  During the event, I unveiled a new television public service announcement (PSA) featuring a local favorite, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, that encourages youth to participate in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.  The PSA was developed by the Ad Council in collaboration with Let’s Move!, USDA, NFL, NFL Player Association, and National Dairy Council, and will be distributed to stations nationwide this week.

It was my privilege to celebrate National School Lunch Week in Byram, MS, the greater Jackson area, to recognize Byram Middle School for meeting the Gold level of the HealthierUS School Challenge.  I was glad that Deuce McAllister, retired running back for the New Orleans Saints and Ole Miss, was also there to talk to the students about the importance of good nutrition and physical fitness as part of Fuel Up to Play 60.  Deuce and I both agree that it is so important that our children are healthy and active, that they not go hungry, and that they have access to nutritious meals.