It has been two years since First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative prompted families, individuals and organizations to take their health into their own hands. The campaign has given American families the motivation to live a healthier life through physical activity and nutrition, and continue the fight against childhood obesity.

Along with Let's Move!, the National Physical Activity Plan, Exercise is Medicine^(R)(EIM), Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and countless other initiatives are strengthening the movement. Each of these initiatives brings something unique. Exercise is Medicine Month in May is the special recognition month for EIM and a time for everyone to idenfity, emphasize and celebrate the valuable health benefits of exercise on a national scale.

In 2012, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) members were involved in the Let's Move Faith & Communities' Communities on the Move Video Challenge. The popular choice award went to a video called "100 Citizens: Role Models for the Future." 100 Citizens promotes the message that ending childhood obesity begins at home with the family.

USA Today's Family Fitness Challenge, which launched this month, paired six families with fitness experts to help them reach their health goals within four months. While sharing stories about their progress, they will also provide tips, tools and guidance everyone can use to start living a healthier life.

Along with these programs and initiatives, we continue to learn more every day from new research about exercise, nutrition, physiology and motivation. Our programs and policies are more effective than ever because of our growing base of information. From molecular-level, basic science to studies of group interaction and epidemiology, new knowledge is providing a solid base of evidence to underpin our efforts.

How do your efforts complement the work of Let's Move!, the National Physical Activity Plan and other initiatives?

The First Lady's Let's Move! initiative has been embraced by individuals and organizations across the country, and has helped to raise awareness of the importance of healthy behaviors like physical activity and healthy eating. It has also generated additional engagement across all sectors - public and private - in making commitments to help ensure that this generation of children, and those that follow, grow up in environments where the healthy choice is the easy choice. Through the impact of the initiative, we see that Mrs. Obama's role as the First Lady has truly allowed her to influence the daily lives of thousands.

YMCAs across the nation work every day to support the principles of Let's Move!. This work is in the DNA of our organization as a nonprofit committed to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For example, traditional Y programs like youth sports, camps and aquatics all engage children in physical activity and contribute to meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Other programs and activities, such as YMCA's Healthy Kids Day and Healthy Family Home, send healthy messages home with families. The two programs are similar to the Let's Move! initiative in that they support children and families in a variety of ways,including encouraging families to play each day, get outside, eat healthier, and connect with each other.

In addition, Ys across the country are working with other leaders to drive strategies that ensure communities are rich in opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating. The Y's Healthier Communities Initiatives - REACH and Community Transformation Grants (funded by CDC) and Statewide Pioneering Healthier Communities (funder by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) - now reach more than 200 communities nationwide. As a result of this work, many more communities have safe places for kids to play, more miles of walking trails, safe routes for children to bike to school, and policies to support physical activity and healthy eating throughout the school day.

Ys are also transforming their own their own environments to support healthy behaviors. Just over a year ago, we made a committment to the First Lady and Partnership for a Healthier America to adopt healthy eating and physical activity standards in Y early childhood and afterschool programs over the next five years; Ys are working toward that goal now. Many Ys are also adopting similar guidelines in other programs including sports, aquatics, membership, camps, and family programs.

All of these initiatives within the Y support the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, as well as Let's Move! goals. This year's anniversary of Let's Move! is a good time to reflect on how we are contributing to the effort to improve the health of our nation's children. What are you doing or your organization doing to improve healthy behaviors among kids?

Originally posted on the Let's Move! blog, in honor of the 3rd year anniversary of the Let's Move! campaign

Since early 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative has been an important driver of childhood obesity prevention efforts across the nation. Through Let's Move!, leaders in business, health care, community, and government have joined educators, childcare providers, faith leaders, chefs and many others to have a meaningful, positive impact on the health of our nation's youth. This month, Let's Move! highlighted their accomplishments from the past three years on their blog.

Here's a snapshot of some Let's Move! milestones and collaborations from the past 12 months:

• Disney announced that it will require all food and beverage products advertised, sponsored, or promoted on various Disney-owned media channels and online destinations and theme parks to meet nutritional guidelines that align with federal standards to promote fruit and vegetables and limit calories, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat by 2015.
• In support of Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games, the US Olympic Committee and several of its national governing bodies provided beginner athletic programming for free or low cost to more than 1.7 million kids in 2012.
• The Department of Defense (DOD) announced dramatic improvements to nutrition standards for the $4.65 billion worth of food purchased every year for our troops and their families. For the first time in 20 years, DOD is updating their nutritional standards to include more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products with every meal.
• The First Lady celebrated a series of new collaborations to supports Let's Move! Cities, Towns and Counties. Organizations such as the National League of Cities and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation committed new resources to help hundreds of local elected officials advance the goals of Let's Move! in their communities. More than 150 local elected officials have committed to the goals of the initiative.
  
• Throught the PHA "Play Streets," the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association funded street-closings to increase safe places for families to play. These areas are called "Play Streets" - city streets where kids and families can run, walk, bike, or play outside freely without traffic. In 2013, at least four Play Streets per city/town in 10 cities and towns across the country will be funded.
• In August 2012, the First Lady hosted the first-ever Kids' State Dinner celebrating healthy lunchtime recipes created by kids. The First Lady, along with Epicurious, USDA, and the Department of Education, welcomed 54 young chefs from all 50 states and U.S. territories to a luncheon at the White House serving some of those healthy creations.
• The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition updated the President's Challenge Youth Fitness Test to reflect the latest science on kids' health and promote active, healthy lifestyles rather than athletic performance and competition. The new Presidential Youth Fitness Program is a voluntary, school-based program that assesses students' fitness-based health and helps them progress over time. The new program will be implemented in 25 percent of US schools by the end of 2013, and 90 percent of US schools by 2018.
• The Partnership for a Healthier America teamed up with 157 hospitals to deliver more healthy options throughout their facilities. These hospitals have committed to work over the next three years to improve the nutrition of patient meals as well as that of the food options in on-site cafeterias. This includes more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-calorie options, and healthy beverages.

To learn more about Let's Move!, visit www.letsmove.gov.

Physical Activity Guidelines Midcourse Report

As we look forward to another year of robust partnerships and efforts to improve the health of America's children, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, in partnership with the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, is happy to announce the upcoming release of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth. This report, to be released on March 8, 2013 at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit, highlights evidence-based intervention strategies for increasing physical activity throughout various sectors of society.

Learn more by visiting http://www.health.gov/paguidelines.