Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic

Ask the Obama Administration to address the obesity epidemic by using some of the $650 million set aside for prevention and wellness in the economic stimulus package to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO). CDC is the nation's lead prevention agency, yet DNPAO is funded at less than one half of one percent of CDC's budget.

Please go to the “contact us” section of recovery.gov. Insert a request for CDC obesity funding, such as the model comment below, and add a supporting fact of your own or one from the list of options below:

Please ensure that the prevention and wellness fund from the stimulus package includes a strong investment in obesity prevention by providing $90 million for the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.


To support that request use one of the following or your own supporting fact:

* At the current funding, $42 million, CDC is able to support only 23 states. The remaining states receive no funds from CDC to address a condition that affects two-thirds of American adults, contributes to 112,000 deaths annually, and costs the nation $123 billion in treatment costs.

* Over the last ten years, the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity has begun to build a strong science base, effective programs, and national infrastructure to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The Administration should build on that initial investment rather than reinventing the wheel.

* With high rates of obesity in adults and children, the Administration can’t afford to not have a strong national obesity prevention program in place. Without sufficient investment in prevention, obesity rates are going to continue to wreak havoc on the nation’s health and health care costs.

* Funding CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at $90 million would allow it to support obesity prevention programs in every state.

* Even though all state applications were approved for funding, 13 states lost their obesity funding last year due to inadequate resources.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wanted to tell you about an exciting new feature just launched on the White House website called "Open for Questions."

Here's how it works -- President Obama is inviting everyone to ask a question about the economy and to rate other questions up or down.

On Thursday morning, the President will conduct an online town hall on the economy and answer some of the most popular questions live.

Watch a video of the President explaining this new feature and be a part of it now.

"Open for Questions" is an opportunity to open up the White House to all Americans.

It's an experiment designed to encourage transparency and accountability by giving you a direct line to the White House.

This first round will deal with the economy. Americans deserve to know what their government is doing to get our economy back on track. But it's up to you to participate and make this experiment a success.

Join the discussion now:

http://whitehouse.gov/OpenForQuestions

Thanks, and remember to check back Thursday to watch the President answer some of your questions live.

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America