Let’s Move Outside!, Outdoors Alliance for Kids Launched

First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Nevada’s Red Rock Canyon to unveil Let’s Move Outside! today, expanding her campaign to solve childhood obesity. This new coordinated federal effort acknowledges the health connection between people and nature.

Also announced today, National Wildlife Federation and a diverse community of businesses and non-profits have launched a new national strategic partnership, called the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK), to address the growing divide between children and families and the natural world.

Today’s launch of OAK and the Let’s Move Outside! initiative highlight the important role that our public lands, and all green spaces large and small, play in the development of healthy kids, healthy families and healthy communities.

Solid OAK Goals

The new coalition OAK works to strengthen the connections between land conservation and time spent outdoors, empower youth leaders to advance the reconnecting to nature movement, and promote resources and events that help people reconnect with the great outdoors. Visit outdoorsallianceforkids.org to learn more about the new alliance and find resources and events.

OAK brings together NWF, YMCA of the USA, REI, Sierra Club, Izaak Walton League of America, The Outdoor Foundation, National Recreation and Park Association and the Children & Nature Network, collectively representing more than 30 million members.

Welcoming June Outside!

While I was enjoying a day off email last Friday, President Barack Obama proclaimed June 2010 as Great Outdoors Month. In his Presidential Proclamation, our 44th president urged all Americans to explore the great outdoors while conserving lands for future generations. Forty governors have also issued the same outdoors declaration for this month. Check out the American Recreation Coalition’s full list of Great Outdoors Month proclamations here.

Looking to start planning your next outdoors adventure? Join NWF’s Great American Backyard Campout on June 26, an annual event when families open up their door to stargaze, roast s’mores and get back to basics. Visit backyardcampout.org to register, find recipes and learn about family activities.

Resources

Visit www.letsmove.gov/letsmoveoutside.php to learn about the First Lady’s exciting new health initiative.

Read the June 2010 Great Outdoors Month Presidential Proclamation.

Check out my earlier post about the new White House action plan “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation“.