Former Clinton, Bush officials to tackle obesity problem

Four former Cabinet secretaries are signing onto a bipartisan effort to tackle the nation’s growing obesity problem.

The former administration officials, working with the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), will put together a year-long project to develop policy recommendations for how lawmakers and the private sector can solve a problem that's become highly politicized recently.

The rate of obesity in adults has more than doubled to 34 percent over the past 30 years, and childhood obesity has more than tripled to 17 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Issues like nutrition and wellness, physical fitness and access to healthy food options are ripe for bipartisan action, and I hope our recommendations will contribute significantly to the current debate,” said Dan Glickman, a former agriculture secretary under President Clinton.

But the debate over nutrition has strayed from bipartisanship recently, as some conservatives have lashed out at first lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to combat childhood obesity. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a possible Republican contender in the 2012 presidential election, likened Michelle Obama’s campaign to a “nanny state run amok” late last year.

Palin’s criticism, which sparked a divide in the party, prompted another likely Republican candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, to defend the first lady.

"Michelle Obama's not trying to tell people what to eat or trying to force the government's desires on people, but she's stating the obvious: that we do have an obesity crisis in this country,” said Huckabee said in a December radio interview.

Other former Cabinet leaders joining in the BPC effort include Clinton’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala; Mike Leavitt, HHS secretary under former President George W. Bush; and Ann Veneman, who headed the Agriculture Department under Bush.

The initiative will focus on improving nutrition education, ways to promote healthy food choices, the role of institutional players, opportunities for public-private partnerships and increasing physical activity.