SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced he will host the 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity: Action for Healthy Living on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Governor’s co-lead in the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, will also participate.
“We have made significant strides in promoting healthy eating and active living since my first Summit in 2005, but there remains action that can be done to promote a healthier California for all,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am convening the 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity: Action for Healthy Living to bring together diverse stakeholders to discuss the best policy and practices to promote healthy living in the Golden State. I am thrilled to join with President Clinton and The California Endowment to continue building upon our work for a healthier future for our children and all Californians.”
The Governor also praised First Lady Michelle Obama’s announcement today to fight childhood obesity in an ambitious nationwide campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids.
“I applaud First Lady Michelle Obama’s commitment to fight childhood obesity throughout the nation,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Maria and I have been working for years to create and promote a healthy environment for our kids across the state. California was the first to enact the most progressive school nutrition reforms in the nation by taking junk food and sodas off school campuses, and putting more fruits and vegetables into school meals. In addition to the actions we are taking here in our state, I look forward to working with First Lady Michelle Obama and the Obama Administration to promote healthier living in California and throughout the nation.”
First Lady Obama’s campaign – Let’s Move – is consistent with the principles used in Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2005 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity that brought together leaders in public and private sector organizations making significant commitments to change core business practices to help achieve a healthier California. Governor Schwarzenegger and California First Lady Maria Shriver hosted the 2005 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity, where they announced the Governor’s Vision for a Healthy California, a forward-reaching framework to challenge all Californians to make the state a national model for healthy living. Since then, California has championed leading efforts to combat obesity and improve health and wellness. In 2007, the Governor and President Bill Clinton announced their partnership as co-leaders, along with the president of the American Heart Association, of The Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
The Governor’s 2010 Summit is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The California Endowment, located at 1000 North Alameda Street in Los Angeles, California. The Summit will bring together diverse stakeholders to discuss the best policy and practices to promote healthy living and yield immediate results to improve the health and physical fitness of Californians while combating the state’s obesity crisis.
All media interested in attending the Summit must submit the credential application found here. Doors will open the day of for media check-in and set-up at 8 a.m. For questions regarding media credentialing for the Summit please contact the Governor’s Press Office at (916) 445-4571.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership has put in place some of the nation’s most innovative and successful strategies in California to promote health and nutrition. The Governor has:
•Established the toughest school nutrition reforms in the nation, taking junk food and sugary sodas off our campuses.
•Made California the first state in the nation to have its restaurant chains with 20 or more locations statewide post calorie information on menus and indoor menu boards for consumers.
•Removed trans fats in school meals and phased out the use of trans fats in all California restaurants beginning in 2010 and from all baked goods by 2011.
•Invested millions of dollars in fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals.
•Adopted the first-ever physical education standards.
•Reinvigorated the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which focuses on rewarding positive leadership in implementing healthy living in youth.
•Required each vendor who operates or maintains a vending machine on state property to satisfy the requirement that at least 35 percent of the food and at least one-third of the beverages offered in the vending machines meet accepted nutritional guidelines by January 1, 2011.
•Proposed a comprehensive health care reform plan that emphasizes prevention and wellness.
In addition, First Lady Maria Shriver created the 10 Steps to Better Health for Parents and Kids and has built 31 playgrounds in low income communities across the state so children have access to safe play spaces. Shriver has led a call to healthy eating through her school garden initiative and under her leadership, California became the first state in the nation to plant a sustainable garden on the grounds of a state capitol.
