Education
• Provide federal funding for mass media health-promotion campaigns such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest's “1% Or Less” program.
• Require instruction in nutrition and weight management as part of school curriculums.
• Declare an annual National “No TV” Week, and discourage TV watching in general.
• Require and fund daily physical education and sports programs in primary and secondary schools.
Food Labeling and Advertising
• Restrict advertising of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods on children's television shows or require broadcasters to provide equal time for messages promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
• Require chain restaurants to provide information about calorie content on menus or menu boards, and nutrition labeling on wrappers.
• Require print advertisements to disclose the caloric content of foods.
Food Assistance Programs
• Eliminate the sale of soft drinks, candy bars and high-calorie, low-nutrient snack foods in school buildings.
• Develop incentives to encourage Food Stamp recipients to purchase healthful foods.
Health Care and Training
• Require that medical, nursing and other health curricula include information on healthful diets and exercise patterns.
• Require health care providers to learn about obesity risks, obesity counseling and health-promoting behavior change.
• Develop and fund research on behavioral and metabolic determinants of weight gain and maintenance, and on cost-effective methods for intervention.
• Revise Medicaid and Medicare regulations to provide incentives to health-care providers for nutrition and obesity counseling, and other cost-effective interventions. |
Transportation and Urban Development
• Provide funding and other incentives for health-promoting facilities such as bicycle paths, recreation centers, swimming pools, parks and sidewalks.
• Develop and provide guidelines to modify zoning requirements and residential neighborhoods to promote physical activity.
Food Development
• Reduce the fat limit in ground beef and hot dogs from 30 percent to 22.5 percent.
• Reward farmers who raise cows in ways that lower milk fat and beef cattle in ways that lower body fat.
Policy Development
• Include nutrition and obesity prevention in the scope of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
• Develop a coordinated federal implementation plan for the Healthy People 2010 nutrition and physical activity objectives.
Taxes and Subsidies
• Subsidize low-calorie nutritious foods, perhaps by raising the costs of selected high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.
• Remove sales taxes on, or provide other incentives for, the purchase of exercise equipment.
• Provide tax incentives to encourage employers to provide weight management programs.
• Levy city, state or federal taxes on soft drinks and other foods high in calories, fat or sugar to fund campaigns to promote good nutrition and physical activity.
• Provide incentives to restaurants to charge more for less nutritious foods. |