Federal report recommends exercise

Parks & Recreation, Jan, 2005

In the most comprehensive assessment to date of what the country should do to counter the nation's growing waistlines on its children, the National Academy of Sciences released in early October more than a dozen recommendations to combat the obesity pandemic.

"We call for action to be taken immediately, given the alarming rate at which childhood obesity is increasing in America," said Jeffrey Koplan of Emory University, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who chaired the 19-member committee convened by the academy's Institute of Medicine.

High on the list was making sure children get at least 30 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. This can be achieved, the report stated, through state and local governments taking steps to make it easier for everyone, including children, to exercise.

Although the committee has no power to implement any of the recommendations, such reports frequently have a powerful influence on important public policy debates.

Immediately following the release of the Academy of Science's report, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would carry out the report's recommendations.