Representatives of the two major
candidates for President of the United
States addressed the epidemic of obesity
at the AOA’s 2nd annual conference,
Obesity: The Public Health
Conference, Sept. 13-14 in Washington
DC.
"This is the first and only time I
am aware of that candidates for
President of the United States have
addressed obesity in any campaign,"
commented AOA President Richard L.
Atkinson, M.D.
Senior Political
Editor for CBS News
Dotty Lynch organized
the panel that included:
Texas Governor
George W. Bush’s
representative, Sally
Canfield, director of
issues for the Bush
Campaign.
Vice President
Albert Gore’s representatives,
Melissa
Goldstein, an expert
on health issues, and
Shirley Watkins, the
Undersecretary of
Agriculture for Food, Nutrition
and Consumer Services at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Margaret Heldring, former director
of health policy for Senator Bill
Bradley.
The remaining 15 objectives in the focus area are mainly nutrition-oriented. Overweight and Obesity is further
minimized by its placement in the sub-category of Weight Status and Growth, which contains an objective unrelated
to obesity: Growth Retardation in Children.
Eight weeks prior to the
November 7th presidential election,
the representatives discussed their
candidates’ health care plans and
approaches to obesity.
They also responded to a new
AOA survey on parents’ attitudes
about their children’s weight that
showed 78% of parents were opposed
to reducing recess or physical education
for more academics.
Bush Campaign Position
Sally Canfield outlined Governor
Bush’s health care plan, which
includes:
replicating the Child and
Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular
Health (CATCH) program
across the country for obesity prevention.
CATCH is geared toward
3rd, 4th and 5th grade students in
border communities, who are
given redesigned classes on physical
activity and nutrition, and
have healthy food choices
available in their cafeteria.
a commitment to Texas’ Healthy
Communities Innovation Fund as
a model program. The fund pro-vides
grants totaling $500 million
over five years for pilot programs
and demonstration projects to
address health risks in communities, and was structured
on the CATCH program.
a program to provide $3.6 billion
over five years for 1,200 migrant
health centers in medically under-served
and rural areas without
access to preventive and health care
services.
using the Texas Diabetes Council
as a model for management and
prevention of diabetes. According
to Canfield, Bush is very concerned
about diabetes, especially
among children.
addressing the issue of medically
uninsured and underinsured
children, and supporting a tax
credit for health insurance if not
offered by employers or through
state programs.
favoring Medical Savings
Accounts and reform of Medicare
for greater preventive services.
Gore Campaign Position
Melissa Goldstein addressed Vice
President Gore’s interest in the "whole
child" and the need for developing a
sound body and a sound mind in our
nation’s schoolchildren. Responding
to a Centers for Disease Control report
of a 30% decrease in the number of
high school students enrolled in daily
physical education, Goldstein replied,
"I think we have now recognized the
trend and realize it is not a healthy one
for mind and body. The President has
instructed the Secretary of Health and
Human Services to report by the end
of October on how schools can include
physical education classes."
Goldstein said that Gore’s health
care plan includes:
a life-encompassing approach to
health including health education
classes that focus on life long
strategies for health. This includes
pre-natal, school and after-school
programs, including obesity prevention.
expanding the Child Health
Insurance Program for all children.
significant increases in funding for
the National Institutes of Health,
which she acknowledged that
Bush also supports.
Regarding the issue of Medicare
coverage of obesity pharmaceutical
agents, Goldstein indicated that Gore
would support a science-based
approach if accepted among professionals.
She also indicated that Gore is
concerned about genetic discrimination
in insurance, which might affect
persons with obesity.
Shirley Watkins praised the
accomplishments of the Clinton-Gore
Administration including:
the USDA conference on childhood
obesity in 1998, the first time
any Administration has identified
childhood obesity as a major
health issue,
the Department of Agriculture’s
Great Nutrition Debate,
Healthy People 2010,
the National Nutrition Summit,
a new program in which five medical
societies help parents combat
"pouring rights contracts," an
agreement by which schools pro-mote
students’ consumption of
soft drinks in return for millions of
dollars.
Watkins also reflected on the problems
of poverty, diabetes and obesity.
"Poor families are forced to buy non-nutritious
foods that are calorie laden
that they feed their children," she said.
"In some communities they are afraid
to let their children go out of
the house, so there is no physical activity.
There is a high incidence of obesity
in poor families not because they are
overfed but because they are under-nourished."
She announced that the
Surgeon General will have a
workshop
in December, 2000 to address obesity.
Another Perspective
Margaret Heldring addressed the
nature of the health care discussion in
national politics. She observed that
health care issues are often skipped in
favor of health insurance access and
costs. She said that the Bradley campaign
tried to broaden the health care
debate by teaching people that "supporting
good health will reduce costs
and will free up health care dollars."
