Everyone wants kids to be healthy, including the First Lady and IDFA.  The First Lady's "Let's Move!" program includes four pillars: Healthy Choices, Healthier Schools, Physical Activity, and Accessible and Affordable Healthy Food.  Dairy can help support all four of these pillars -- over two posts, we'll talk about the program and what you can do. Helping Parents Make Healthy Family Choices "What's for dinner tonight?" "Can I watch Nemo?" As a mom, I make choices about what to feed my family and what kinds of physical activity my kids will get every day.  Is it always the healthiest option?  No,  sometimes it's whatever is easiest to get on the table, usually a food I know the boys will eat, or allowing them to watch a video inside instead of playing in the backyard.  But parents need information on the choices they are making. Let's Move is looking at changes to food labeling, an updated food pyramid and education of health professionals to better inform consumers about healthy family choices. Accessible & Affordable Healthy Food An especially disturbing statistic is that 49.1 million Americans, including 16.7 million children, are living in hungry households.  These children, in addition to millions of others that live in "food deserts" where access to food is limited, need to have a secure source of affordable and healthy food.  This could include encouraging stores in food deserts to stock healthy choices or ensuring that children and families that qualify for federal nutrition programs participate. How Does This Affect Dairy? As we all know, dairy products are full of nutrients and are well liked by many people, including kids.  However, if government messages and programs concentrate more on "nutrients to avoid," such as saturated fat or sodium, the positive nutrient contribution of dairy could get lost.  We need to work to make sure that dairy continues to be viewed as a positive contributor to American diets and that we're part of the solution to childhood obesity. IDFA & Industry Activities IDFA President and CEO Connie Tipton has met with White House officials to emphasize the importance of dairy and educate them on what dairy processors are already doing.  In response to a call from the federal government's Interagency Task Force on Childhood Obesity, IDFA filed comments making recommendations on how to reduce childhood obesity while encouraging healthy habits.  Based on public comments, the Interagency Task Force released a report on May 11.  You can participate in IDFA's Nutrition Working Group to help draft future comments to the Interagency Task Force and to government agencies. Help your customers make healthy family choices. Tell them about the nutritional benefits of dairy products, tout your product as a healthy beverage or a healthy snack for their kids, and consider label designs that help consumers understand the value of nutrient-rich foods like dairy products. To help children access healthy food, take a look at where your products are sold.  Do your products qualify as part of school meals or as a la carte items in schools?  Do your products qualify for the WIC program?  Are your products available at convenience stores and other types of stores, especially in areas that may not have a full grocery store? What has your company done to help parents make healthy family choices or to help increase access to healthy food?