Let's Move! facts for kids
Let's Move! was a special program in the United States. It was started by Michelle Obama, who was the First Lady when her husband, Barack Obama, was President. The main goal of Let's Move! was to help kids and teens be healthier. It wanted to lower the number of young people who were overweight or obese. The campaign also encouraged everyone to live a healthy life.
The program aimed to solve the problem of childhood obesity within one generation. This meant that children born around that time would grow up to be healthy adults. Let's Move! hoped to reduce childhood obesity to just 5% by the year 2030.
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History of Let's Move!
Michelle Obama announced the Let's Move! campaign on February 9, 2010. The program aimed to make school foods healthier. It also wanted to improve food labels so people could easily see what was in their food. A big part of the plan was to get children more active.
On the same day, Michelle Obama created the Task Force on Childhood Obesity. This group looked at existing programs. They also made a national plan to fight childhood obesity. The Task Force had five main goals:
- Helping children get a healthy start in life.
- Giving parents and guardians tools to make healthy choices.
- Making sure schools offered healthy food.
- Making healthy, affordable foods easier to find.
- Encouraging more physical activity for everyone.
The White House Task Force hoped to lower the childhood obesity rate to 5% by 2030.
A famous singer, Beyoncé, even helped the campaign. She released a song called "Move Your Body" for the Let's Move! Flash Workout. The music video showed Beyoncé dancing with kids in a school cafeteria.
The campaign was first led by Sam Kass. He was the Obamas' personal chef and a special advisor on nutrition. Later, Debra Eschmeyer took over this role in 2015. Many government groups and private companies worked together on Let's Move!. Michelle Obama was the main spokesperson, promoting the message across the country.
Understanding Childhood Obesity
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Body mass index (BMI) is a way to measure if someone's weight is healthy for their height. For children, health experts say a child is overweight if their BMI is higher than 85% of other kids their age. They are considered obese if their BMI is higher than 95%.
Many things can lead to childhood obesity. These include genetics, what a child eats, how much they move, and their environment. Being overweight or obese can cause several health problems. These include heart issues, asthma, liver problems, sleep apnea, and type 2 diabetes.
Today, about one in five children in the U.S. between ages 6 and 19 are obese. About one in three are overweight. The rate of childhood obesity tripled from 1980 to 1999. This created a big health challenge.
The Let's Move! program focused on changing habits and environments. It encouraged active lifestyles and healthy eating. It involved schools, parents, workplaces, and healthcare providers in this effort.
Healthy Eating and Nutrition
To promote healthy eating, Let's Move! shared important nutrition information. It introduced a new food guide called MyPlate. This guide helps people understand how to build a healthy meal. It also pushed for clearer food labels on packages and menus.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shared healthy eating tips on its MyPlate website. For example, it suggested that half of all grains eaten should be whole grains. Let's Move! also worked with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They created new rules for food labels on packages and menus.
Let's Move! encouraged healthy eating habits at home, in schools, and in communities. It advised mothers to eat healthily during pregnancy. It also gave parents tips for teaching their families healthy eating habits. To help schools, Let's Move! promoted the USDA's HealthierUS School Challenge.
This challenge encouraged schools to create healthier environments. Schools that promoted good nutrition and physical activity could earn awards. These awards came with money to help schools continue their healthy efforts.
Michelle Obama also wrote a book about her White House garden. The book included her family's favorite healthy recipes.
Community Involvement
For Let's Move! to work well, many different groups needed to get involved. Schools had to start health programs. Parents had to teach their children healthy habits. Here's how some organizations and businesses helped.
Chefs Move to Schools
Chefs Move to Schools started in May 2010. It was part of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign. This program brought professional chefs into schools. They volunteered their time to teach kids about cooking. They also helped school staff prepare healthier meals.
By 2012, about 3,500 schools had partnered with chefs. These chefs helped teach students about healthy eating in a fun way. Chef Sam Kass, a White House chef, helped lead this program. Food Network star Rachael Ray also supported it. She encouraged kids to get involved in the kitchen on her TV show.
Chefs could sign up online to be matched with a school nearby. They could choose to help with school gardens, teach in classrooms, or train students in cooking. Once a match was made, the program provided resources to help them succeed.
Business Support
Many private businesses also made changes to help kids be healthier. For example, Disney changed its rules. All foods sold and advertised by Disney had to meet new nutrition guidelines. These rules aimed to increase fruits and vegetables and lower calories.
Big stores like Walgreens, Supervalu, and Walmart also helped. They announced plans to build or expand stores in areas where healthy foods were hard to find. This helped more people get access to fresh and healthy options.
Physical Activity
Health experts suggest that children should be physically active for at least one hour every day. Kids should do three types of activities:
- Aerobic activity: Like running, swimming, or dancing.
- Muscle strengthening: Activities that build strong muscles.
- Bone strengthening: Activities that make bones stronger.
Let's Move! encouraged physical activity with the help of families, schools, and communities. The program stated that kids are more likely to be active if their friends and family support them. Let's Move! also gave schools guidelines for strong physical education programs. It outlined ways communities could promote physical activity too.
Campaign Impact
It's hard to say exactly how much Let's Move! changed obesity rates. However, some positive changes were seen. Between 2009 and 2012, obesity rates dropped for children aged 2–5. By 2015, overall childhood obesity rates hadn't changed much since 2008. But there was a clear drop among the youngest children.
Working Together
Let's Move! was a big project that needed many groups to work together. This included government agencies, companies, and non-profit organizations. Getting everyone to coordinate effectively was a challenge.
One idea to help coordination was to give awards. Organizations that made a positive impact on Let's Move! goals could receive recognition. Michelle Obama could publicly thank these groups. This would remind everyone how important it was to work together to solve childhood obesity.
Another idea was to have clear leaders in each organization. These leaders would report to a central group, like the Task Force on Childhood Obesity. This would help make sure everyone was doing their part. It would also prevent tasks from being repeated or missed.
Achievements of Let's Move!
The campaign had many positive results:
- Almost 600 museums and gardens across the U.S. offered active exhibits and healthy food choices.
- The Department of Defense updated its food standards. Troops now had more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats.
- Walmart lowered the prices of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products by $1 billion in 2011. They also worked to remove trans fats, sugar, and sodium from their foods.
- Birds Eye spent millions to encourage children to eat and enjoy vegetables.
- Michelle Obama worked with the U.S. Tennis Association. They built or improved over 6,200 kid-sized tennis courts. Over 250,000 kids learned tennis through this effort.
- The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association funded "Play Streets." These events closed streets to traffic, creating safe places for kids to run, walk, and play.
- The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition updated its fitness test for kids. It now focused on overall health and active lifestyles, not just athletic performance.
- Over 5,000 schools met high standards for nutrition and fitness through the HealthierUS School Challenge.
- Stores like Walgreens and Walmart promised to build or expand 1,500 stores in areas without easy access to healthy food. This helped millions of people get fresh food.
- Michelle Obama launched MyPlate and MiPlato. These easy-to-understand guides helped families make healthier food choices. Thousands of groups partnered with the USDA to share this information.
Let's Move! Flash Workout
The Let's Move! Flash Workout was a special project in 2011. It involved Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, and a group called the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. The goal was to help boost the campaign against childhood obesity.
Beyoncé changed her song "Get Me Bodied" and renamed it "Move Your Body" for this project. She also made a Spanish version. The lyrics were changed to fit the healthy message.
The new lyrics included lines like: "Don't just stand there on the wall, everybody just move your body." The song was a step-by-step workout. It mixed hip hop, Latin, and dancehall moves with regular exercises.
On April 9, 2011, a video was released online. It showed a group of teenagers dancing to "Move Your Body." A few days later, Beyoncé said she would make her own version of the dance. She wanted to show kids how it was done. On April 26, 2011, Beyoncé released her own music video for "Move Your Body."
"Move Your Body" Song and Video
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Beyoncé changed her 2007 song "Get Me Bodied" into a "kid-friendlier" track called "Move Your Body" in 2011. The dance moves were created by Frank Gatson. He also choreographed Beyoncé's famous "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" video.
The instructional video for "Move Your Body" came out on April 9, 2011. It showed teenagers doing the dance. Beyoncé then decided to film her own version to inspire kids. On April 26, 2011, her music video for "Move Your Body" was released. In the video, students joined Beyoncé to perform the fun choreography. They mixed salsa, dancehall, and the running man dance.
The music video for "Move Your Body" was like a four-minute flash mob. It started during lunch in a school cafeteria. Everything was normal until Beyoncé walked in. She started the song, and all the kids jumped up. They followed along as Beyoncé led them through different dances.
The instructional video was sent to schools across the country on May 3, 2011. On that day, Beyoncé visited a middle school in Harlem. She taught the students the dance moves from her video. The kids were thrilled to dance with her and take photos. Many people praised the video. They said it was impossible to watch without wanting to move. They also said Beyoncé's dancing could help solve the problem of childhood obesity.
Images for kids
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Students at the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center practicing choreography for a fitness video.
