During National Press Club Newsmaker Forum, DeLauro Outlines Steps to Combat Childhood Obesity

During National Press Club Newsmaker Forum, DeLauro Outlines Steps to Combat Childhood Obesity

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today joined the Center for Science in the Public Interest; the Center for Consumer Freedom; and the Grocery Manufactures Association in the National Press Club's Newsmaker forum entitled "Food Fight: Childhood Obesity, Crisis or Hype?" During the forum, DeLauro outlined several steps that can be taken to combat childhood obesity, including Congressional action. In the last Congress, DeLauro introduced the Menu Education and Labeling Act (MEAL Act) that calls for listing calories, saturated plus trans fat and sodium on printed menus and calories on menu boards.

Following are DeLauro's remarks as prepared for delivery.

"The question before us today is not whether childhood obesity exists or whether it is a problem - I think you only need to look around to know that it is a problem. It is whether the number of overweight children has reached a crisis point in this country.

"And since at least one of our fellow panelists has challenged the veracity of many of the numbers we rely on, allow me to make the remainder of my opening comments without relying on the fact that over 9 million children and teens are what we consider to be overweight. I will not again mention that only 23 percent of high school males and 20 percent of females eat 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. And I will not repeat that the percentage of food consumed by children in restaurants and fast-food outlets nearly tripled in the last 3 decades.

"I do not think it necessary to refer to these statistics because at its core, what we are talking about is not a matter of statistics or studies - but rather a matter of the public health, and the responsibility the American people, our corporations and our government have to protect it.

"And so I agree with the previous speaker with respect to one very important aspect of this debate. I agree that personal responsibility is one of the keys to reducing obesity in America. We know when people have the information before them about the nutritional content of their food, they tend to exercise their personal responsibility and eat healthier foods. But I think if you withhold or mislead people with respect to the information they need to make informed decisions, it becomes increasingly hard to exercise that personal responsibility.

"And let's be clear: providing information is what we have done for years with labeling on packaged foods - and I think the American people have shown that they agree it strikes the right balance between appropriate government regulation of industry and consumer freedom. Not only do three-quarters of Americans adults report using food labels on a regular basis, but 48 percent say the nutrition information on those labels has caused them to change their minds about what they buy.

"But Americans today work longer hours today and eat out more, spending about half of their food dollars at restaurants. So, why not, as legislation I have introduced proposes, extend that kind of nutrition labeling to menus at fast food and chain restaurants? Why not give parents the nutritional information they need when they pick up a meal for their kids on the way home from a late night of work?

"It is common sense - trained nutritionists cannot even estimate the calorie and fat content in a meal they do not prepare themselves. And if asking fast food restaurants to make nutritional information more available were such an egregious and burdensome request—if this were not something the public showed was important to them—I hardly think McDonald's would have decided to add it to their packaging, as they did just a few weeks ago. With diet fads on the cover of magazines week-in and week-out, companies like McDonald's and Subway are coming to understand that people want the information to make informed decisions for themselves and their families.

"But I think there are limits to the personal responsibility argument when it comes to childhood obesity in America. For instance, I have one staff member, an adult, who sits at her desk every morning and eats the same cereal marketed with berries on the box. The company that makes the cereal markets a cereal bar product the same way - with berries on the box and a similar label. But the bars have no berries. And I think that is misleading to consumers - consumers like my staff member who think this is a healthy product. This is not someone failing to pay attention or being lazy. This is someone who is on Weight-Watchers, who counts her points and calories daily, and has done a remarkable job of losing weight. This is someone trying to eat more healthily - more responsibly.

"Now imagine if that person were a parent buying food for their kids. It is not the parent's job to make sure the packaging on their children's cereal is truthful - it is the government's. That parent did his or her part, checking the label. And it is at that point the argument ceases to be one of personal responsibility but rather one of government's responsibility to people.

"And on that front, we are failing when it comes to the health of our children. We surround our public schools with soft drink machines and fast food restaurants - which local schools allow because they are often so underfunded they turn to corporate sponsors for financial assistance. At the same time, our investment in public parks—in bike paths, playgrounds and other infrastructure that encourages physical activity—has declined.

"Little wonder, then, that a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine—hardly a bastion of the so-called "food police"—tells us our children may face a lower life expectancy than my generation because of increases in obesity and decreased physical activity.

"It is one of the reasons I am such a strong supporter of the innovative PE4Life program at schools. PE4Life helps schools purchase equipment, provide training for physical education instructors, and create an assessment of the program so we can learn where students are in terms of physical fitness, and determine what works best in improving their physical fitness. PE4Life is about empowering physical educators, parents and community leaders to become advocates for quality, daily physical education, while stimulating private and public funding partnerships for quality physical education.

"I said at the outset of my remarks that for all the useful information we get from groups like CSPI, we do not need studies and statistics to understand that childhood obesity is becoming a problem - we only need our eyes. But we also need common sense, which tells us that overweight teens who eat poorly and do not exercise are likely to become overweight adults who eat poorly and do not exercise. And we need to realize that increases their risk for heart disease - for high cholesterol and high blood pressure, for stroke and arthritis.

"And so in my view, with these problems getting worse, not better—with diseases caused primarily by obesity having become the single largest drain on our nation's health care system at $117 billion—it is becoming increasingly clear that Congress is abdicating a responsibility of its own. I think Congress has a role to play here - not to tell people how to live their lives, but to fashion policies that support Americans' efforts to adopt healthier lifestyles if they so choose. We need to fashion those policies and increase investment in our parks and playgrounds. We need to support programs in our schools like PE4Life.

"And we need to be more vigilant about labeling. Labeling is not about telling people that double-cheeseburgers are bad for their health - but letting the American people know that, say, the grilled chicken sandwich they get a couple of times a week on the way home from work at the chain restaurant in their neighborhood may be a lot more fattening than they ever imagined.

"And if you don't care? Fine - this is America and you can eat whatever you want. But there is no reason we should be letting industry dictate government policy - dictate whether the American people have to wear blinders when they buy food at the store or go out to eat. Let the people decide - that is what I believe."

http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2005/November/childhood_obesity_11_18_05.html