September has been an extremely busy month here at ACSM as it relates to physical activity and advocacy, and I am proud to have been able to help to represent all of you along the way.
With the recent announcement of the re-establishment of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition (PCSFN) and the reinstatement of the Presidential Fitness Test for U.S. school children, ACSM was quick to send a letter from me to all members of Congress expressing support for these initiatives. In this communication, we urged representatives to leverage the vast scientific and research expertise of ACSM members to help ensure the application of evidenced-based approaches and appropriate safety measures in the development of these initiatives and the successful promotion of lifelong physical activity behaviors.
To follow up on this letter, ACSM CEO Katie Feltman and I traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Dr. Dorothy Fink, Health and Human Services(HHS) acting assistant secretary for health, to discuss not only the PCSFN and the Presidential Fitness Test, but also the HHS release of the “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy.” Alongside Monte Ward, our vice president for governmental affairs, we took this opportunity to highlight the fact that ACSM is a leading organization devoted to scientific research and the promotion of the many benefits of physical activity through programs such as Exercise is Medicine, our Strategic Health Initiative on Youth Sports & Health, our Task Force on Youth Fitness, as well as many of our volunteer leaders having ongoing involvement with the Physical Activity Guidelines. We discussed our longstanding relationship with the PCSFN, including its Science Board, and how many members have contributed scientific expertise to help shape public policy and programming related to physical activity and health. We also brainstormed with her and her staff on creative ways to collaborate on youth sports safety issues, increasing physical activity rates, as well as ways to improve the abysmal Youth Physical Activity Report Card ratings that were published last year. Dr. Fink was an engaging host, demonstrating genuine interest in how ACSM could partner with HHS, not only in decreasing childhood inactivity and chronic disease but also the health and wellbeing of Americans at all ages. Efforts are underway to have follow up conversations to advance these ideas and to ensure that ACSM has a continued seat at the table for these initiatives.
While on the Hill, we also had successful meetings with Congressman Blake Moore (R-UT) and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA). These meetings were to engage both representatives in the effort to pass the “Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act.” This legislation will require the secretary of Health and Human Services to publish a report that provides Physical Activity Guidelines at least every 10 years based on the latest scientific evidence. Midway through each 10-year cycle, a second report would highlight “best practices and continuing issues in the physical activity arena.” The Federal Physical Activity Guidelines that were first published in 2008 and then again in 2018 currently do not have a regular administrative process for subsequent revisions and are therefore at risk of being eliminated without this legislation.
While we were busy in D.C, our Health Science Policy Committee and Monte continue to work on developing inroads to support the critical work that our members and certified professionals do to impact the health of our nation. This includes exploring effective and easy ways for each of our members to communicate concerns to their representatives as well as stay up to date on legislation that affects us and our work to ensure movement for all.
What I learned this month is that our work is far from being done. In front of us lies a great opportunity to shape the next iteration of how we promote physical activity across our nation. It is imperative that all of us continue to be the voice of sound, evidenced-based science as it relates to physical activity and movement for all. We are definitely stronger together and also stronger alongside like-minded organizations. I urge each of you to be that voice both locally and nationally so that we can move together to move our country’s health forward.
Best,
Carrie A. Jaworski, MD, FACSM, FAAFP
