This week at the 101st NAACP Annual Convention in Kansas City, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed childhood obesity, an issue that she has taken on in her role as First Lady. Speaking about the differences between her own upbringing and those of her children’s, Mrs. Obama reiterated health concerns for the younger generations, as well as those that afflict the African-American community in particular.

Her campaign, “Let’s Move!,” highlights the childhood obesity issue, offers strategies to combat it and provides many resources for staying active and eating healthy.  In support of the First Lady’s initiative, America’s leading beverage companies committed to clearly display the calories in all of our beverages on the front of the can or bottle as well as on company-controlled vending machines and fountain equipment.  This means that within two years, every time consumers touch one of our beverages they will have the calorie information at their fingertips at every point of purchase.

But our industry has a longstanding commitment to being part of the solution to childhood obesity.  We’ve also successfully implemented national School Beverage Guidelines that removed full-calorie soft drinks and replaced them with a range of lower-calorie, nutritious, smaller-portion options.
 
After all, we recognize that if we want to turn back the clock on childhood obesity, it will take all of us  - government, industry, NGOs, parents, teachers, health professionals and more – working together to achieve solutions that will have real impact.