FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GMA Statement on First Lady Michelle Obama's Childhood Obesity Initiative
Contact:
Scott Openshaw, Director, Communications, 202-295-3957
Brian Kennedy, Director, Communications, 202-639-5994
January 20, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Grocery Manufacturers Association issued the following statement by Pamela G. Bailey, president and CEO, regarding First Lady Michelle Obama’s Childhood Obesity Initiative:
“The commitment from the Obama Administration as highlighted today by the First Lady will be extraordinarily helpful as we all work to solve this critical issue. Childhood obesity is a serious national challenge. Doing our part to help win this critical battle is a top priority for the food and beverage industry, and we are already taking significant steps to create and encourage healthier food choices. In recent years, we have changed our packaging to promote portion control and we have reformulated more than 10,000 products to reduce or remove saturated fats, trans fats, calories, sugar and sodium. Changes in advertising practices have resulted in a significant shift in the product mix of advertising viewed by children and companies continue to compete by focusing on consumers’ desires for healthy products and a healthy lifestyle. Recently over 40 food and beverage manufacturers, retailers and NGOs announced a $20 million multi-year initiative - the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) - designed to help reduce obesity, particularly childhood obesity, by 2015. The HWCF promotes ways to help people achieve a healthy weight through energy balance and focuses on three critical areas: the marketplace, the workplace and schools, as well as undertaking a public education campaign aimed at 6-11 year olds and their parents.
“We applaud the First Lady for making childhood obesity a top priority and look forward to working with her to address one of the nation's most significant health care problems. We look forward to working with her to identify new steps that can be taken by the private sector and by the public sector to promote healthy eating habits, greater access to healthy choices, and more physical activity. We all have a role to play if we are going to reduce the number of children and adults who are obese or seriously overweight. There is no American better positioned to lead a national effort to combat obesity than the First Lady."
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Based in Washington, D.C., the Grocery Manufacturers Association is the voice of more than 300 leading food, beverage and consumer product companies that sustain and enhance the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe. Founded in 1908, GMA is an active, vocal advocate for its member companies and a trusted source of information about the industry and the products consumers rely on and enjoy every day. The association and its member companies are committed to meeting the needs of consumers through product innovation, responsible business practices and effective public policy solutions developed through a genuine partnership with policymakers and other stakeholders. In keeping with its founding principles, GMA helps its members produce safe products through a strong and ongoing commitment to scientific research, testing and evaluation and to providing consumers with the products, tools and information they need to achieve a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. The food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry in the United States generates sales of $2.1 trillion annually, employs 14 million workers and contributes $1 trillion in added value to the economy every year.
Related GMA Documents dealing with - NUTRITION ISSUES
NEWS RELEASE
- July 1, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding House Education and Labor Committee Hearing on Child Nutrition Reauthorization
- June 10, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding Introduction of House Child Nutrition Bill
- May 17, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding HWCF Pledge to Reduce 1.5 Trillion Calories by 2015
- May 5, 2010 GMA Applauds Rep. Ron Kind's Comprehensive Anti-Obesity Legislation
- April 20, 2010 Grocery Manufacturers Association Statement Regarding Institute of Medicine “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake” Report
- March 24, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding Senate Agriculture Committee Mark-Up of Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act
- March 18, 2010 GMA Statement on Standards for School Foods
- March 17, 2010 GMA Statement on Progress Made Toward Reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act
- March 4, 2010 GMA Statement at House Agriculture Appropriations Hearing on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act
- January 27, 2010 GMA Response to President Obama's State of the Union Address
- January 20, 2010 GMA Statement on First Lady Michelle Obama's Childhood Obesity Initiative
- January 11, 2010 GMA Statement on New York City’s “National Salt Reduction Initiative”
Related GMA Documents dealing with - OBESITY ISSUE
NEWS RELEASE
- August 30, 2010 Food and Beverage Companies Have Introduced More than 20,000
Healthier Product Choices Since 2002
- May 17, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding HWCF Pledge to Reduce 1.5 Trillion Calories by 2015
- May 11, 2010 GMA Statement Regarding Recommendations from President's Childhood Obesity Task Force
- May 5, 2010 GMA Applauds Rep. Ron Kind's Comprehensive Anti-Obesity Legislation
- March 16, 2010 First Lady Michelle Obama Addresses Grocery Manufacturers Association Science Forum - GMA Strongly Supports First Lady’s Goal of Solving Childhood Obesity within a Generation
- March 9, 2010 GMA: More Than Two-Thirds of the Advertisements Seen by Children and Teens Today Promote More Nutritious Foods and Healthy Lifestyles
- March 4, 2010 GMA Statement at House Agriculture Appropriations Hearing on the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act
- January 27, 2010 GMA Response to President Obama's State of the Union Address
- January 20, 2010 GMA Statement on First Lady Michelle Obama's Childhood Obesity Initiative
- December 16, 2009 Grocery Manufacturers Association Testifies before Congress in Hearing on “Innovations in Addressing Childhood Obesity”
- October 5, 2009 Retailers, NGOs and Food and Beverage Industry Launch National Initiative to Help Reduce Obesity
- September 17, 2009 GMA Applauds HHS Secretary Sebelius and HHS for New Community Prevention and Wellness Program
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