I am pleased to be back at the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The work of the Council is very important, particularly today when we continue to see alarming rates of overweight and obesity and debilitating medical conditions that result from complex factors including inactivity and obesity.

The Council office continues its work on the inactivity front with the launch of the 2nd National President’s Challenge (NPC) on May 1, 2009. The 2008 effort was a great success, with Alaska finishing first among the states and District of Columbia. I hope you will spearhead efforts to encourage the participation of your family, friends, colleagues, employees, and constituents in the 2009 NPC. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (http://www.health.gov/paguidelines) make clear how vitally important it is for adults and children of all ages and abilities to be active on a regular basis. Now is your chance to show others how they can be active by joining in this effort. Continue to visit the National President’s Challenge Web site for more details on the program http://www.presidentschallenge.com/national_challenge/.

For those of you who may be attending the 2009 American College of Sports Medicine Health and Fitness Summit, American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) annual meeting, or ACSM annual meeting, I encourage you to attend one of the PCPFS Science Partnership presentations. This year’s speakers include representatives from our Science Board and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These sessions are sure to be informative, particularly with regards to the development and application of the Physical Activity Guidelines and, in the case of the ACSM Annual Meeting, the relevance of the guidelines to specific population groups. I will be speaking about the guidelines’ development process at the AAHPERD annual meeting. Please feel free to stop by and say hello.

I look forward to spending this time with the Council and to continuing the great work of this office. Here’s to an active spring!

Regards,

Penelope Slade-Sawyer, PT, MSW
RADM USPHS
Acting Executive Director