Breaking News: First Lady Launches Childhood Obesity Initiative

Today, Michelle Obama launched the 'Let's Move' campaign, a truly historic initiative to unite teachers, schools, community leaders and nonprofit organizations around the country in a consolidated effort to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within the next generation.

Calling obesity "one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country," the White House announced a new federal task force charged with tackling the issue and coordinating efforts between the federal government and the private and non-profit sectors.

Thanks to our comprehensive soccer, health, and nutrition curriculum, America SCORES has been a leader in combating youth obesity since 1994. Students in our programs consistently show increases in physical fitness and reduced body mass index (BMI) scores.

We applaud the First Lady and the White House for taking on this crucial need on behalf of America's youth. We will keep our America SCORES network posted on news and updates from this exciting initiative.

We are also actively seeking ways to support this movement, so if you know of any opportunities for America SCORES to get more involved, please contact Cal Zarin, America SCORES Director of Communications.

For quarterly updates on the latest news and trends in childhood obesity, click here to sign up for our e-newsletter. To learn about how America SCORES uses soccer and poetry to fight obesity, click here. A recent study, published in the Journal of Child Health Care shows how America SCORES has been effectively fighting the childhood obesity epidemic through soccer.

More Information about the Let's Move Campaign:

Official White House Page on the campaign.

VIDEO: The First Lady Introduces the Let's Move campaign.

VIDEO: Michelle Obama talks childhood obesity with Matt Lauer on TODAY.