Bill Clinton Speaks Out on Childhood Obesity

by Katherine Gustafson · 2010-02-22 11:50:00 UTC
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Former President Bill Clinton started blowing the whistle on childhood obesity years ago, writing in Parade Magazine in 2005, shortly after quadruple bypass surgery, about how his own health problems inspired him to address this issue.

"The older I get, especially following my own brush with mortality, the more determined I am to try to prevent anyone younger than me from dying.... I believe we’ve got to act now to turn the tide of childhood obesity in America," he wrote.

Now, in the wake of another health scare and in the midst of a whirlwind of high-profile action on childhood obesity spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama, Clinton is rededicating himself to the cause.

Last Wednesday, just days after undergoing another heart surgery, Clinton participated in a press conference about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an initiative focused on promoting nutrition, health and access to fresh food, according to NBC.

The Alliance, a joint project of the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, points out on its website that in the U.S., today around 25 million children and teens are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, which is almost one out of three young people.

Speaking to a crowd in Harlem, Clinton said he hoped to spread his campaign to school districts across the country "so that people like me four years from now, don’t have to stand in front of crowds like you and explain why they had to have their heart fixed.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.
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