Saturday, July 16, 2005
Huckabee On Becoming NGA Chairman
UPDATED 7/21Governor Mike Huckabee became the new chairman of the National Governor's Association at the organization's annual meeting this weekend. Before leaving to attend the meeting, he wrote the following column (you can read it in it's original form here).
Governor Huckabee's
News Column
July 16, 2005
I'm extremely honored to have been selected by my colleagues across the country as the chairman of the National Governors Association. I will lead the NGA for the next year and represent the positions of the nation's governors to the White House, Congress, the media and people nationwide. It's a heavy responsibility, but it's one I feel prepared to take on after nine years as governor. It gives me a platform to talk about the good things we're doing here in Arkansas and provides countless opportunities to learn of best practices in other states.
Each NGA chairman is asked to come up with a theme for the year ahead. Due to the tremendous success of the Healthy Arkansas initiative, I've decided to expand that concept to a Healthy America initiative. That's because poor eating habits, a lack of exercise and too much smoking are problems in all 50 states.
"I believe that deep down, most Americans want to make a change in their lifestyles. We just need to show them how to implement those changes and then offer some incentives for doing so."Almost 600,000 Americans die prematurely each year due to chronic diseases they could have been prevented with lifestyle changes. Many diseases affecting millions of Americans are preventable. Our unhealthy lifestyles are dooming an entire generation. More than a quarter of American adults are physically inactive and 65 percent are overweight. We can and must change this dangerous trend not only in Arkansas but also nationwide.
Like millions of Americans, I grew up on fried foods. There was fried chicken, fried catfish, fried okra, fried squash, fried green tomatoes, chicken fried steak, fried potatoes, fried onions and on and on. These deeply battered foods helped my working-class parents stretch the family budget. But the diet also stretched my waistline. As I grew older, the problems only became worse. I finally woke up after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
The Healthy Arkansas initiative has been about more than convincing people to shed a few pounds. We're trying to get Arkansans to embrace a healthier lifestyle. This is not about a diet. It's about changing the way you live for the rest of your life. Now, we'll take that campaign nationwide.
"The more we spend on sick Americans, the less we can spend on educating children, fighting crime and other priorities."Our society has become sedentary. This country's culture of inactivity and overeating especially poses dangers for young people. The consequences of inaction are dire. We've focused too much on treating diseases. We need to shift that focus to preventing chronic diseases from occurring in the first place. Frankly, it's one of the most important public policy decisions we can make in this country. There are numerous changes we can make in our homes, workplaces and schools. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe we can simply regulate our way out of this obesity crisis. But there are things government can do. It can help educate families about healthy habits. It can offer students healthy options at school. Elected officials from the municipal level to the federal level can use their bully pulpits to point out that we're raising a generation of overweight, inactive, unhealthy children.
"We've focused too much on treating diseases. We need to shift that focus to preventing chronic diseases from occuring in the first place."This isn't a problem we're going to solve in the next year. In fact, it isn't a problem we're going to completely solve in the next decade. But health care costs will continue to consume more of public and private budgets if we don't start making major changes now. The more we spend on sick Americans, the less we can spend on educating children, fighting crime and other priorities. The time for change is now. By forming partnerships between the public and private sectors across America, we can begin to turn things around. I believe that deep down, most Americans want to make changes in their lifestyles. We just need to show them how to implement those changes and then offer some incentives for doing so.
Update: A brochure about Huckabee's Healthy America Initiative is now available on the NGA website. You can view it here.
BSR
