Originally published February 26 2006
Clinton helps launch program to encourage healthy foods in schools
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Bill Clinton is backing the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an $8 million venture to promote healthy foods in schools and fight the epidemic of childhood obesity.
Former President Clinton and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced an $8 million initiative Monday to fight childhood obesity by promoting healthier food and more exercise in schools.
Speaking at a Harlem public school, Clinton said 285 schools in 13 states had been chosen for the pilot phase of the program, beginning next fall, and additional schools will be able to apply for the program.
The schools will get help in improving the nutritional value of the food served in cafeterias and vending machines, increasing physical activity, providing health lessons and promoting staff wellness.
"What we want to do is to create a national recognition program shining a spotlight on schools that have done a good job, with concrete, innovative steps to create healthier learning environments for children and healthier work environments for staff," Clinton said.
The effort is part of a campaign undertaken last year by Clinton's foundation and the American Heart Association.
Mike Huckabee is co-chairman of the initiative, dubbed the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
The campaign is aimed at lowering obesity rates that have tripled over the past 40 years for kids and adolescents from ages 6 through 19, raising their risk of risks of type 2 diabetes and a range of other diseases.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization that focuses on health and health care issues, has committed $8 million over four years to the healthy schools effort.
"This is one of those moments when we have a chance to shape the history of a future generation," said the foundation's president, Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey.
"The question we have to ask ourselves is, could these children be the first generation of Americans who live sicker and die younger than the previous ones?"
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