What has changed since the initiative launched in 2010?
In 2010, the focus of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties was engaging and educating local elected officials on the problem of childhood obesity and actions they can take to address childhood obesity. Now we are ensuring that mayors, city council members, county commissioners, and other local elected officials are making the commitment to specific action, the new five goals. The new five goals were developed with local elected official input. These goals were developed to better unify the activities of cities, towns and counties around the country doing this work and to guide the National League of Cities in the development of the technical support provided to participating sites. Together we can significantly impact childhood obesity with local elected officials committed to these five specific goals.
If my city, town or county signed up prior to July, 2012, do I need to sign up again?
Yes, if a city, town or county previously signed up to be a Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties site, they need to indicate their willingness to commit to the five goals and take the associated survey. We did not think it would be appropriate to assume everyone would automatically commit to the goals, which is why we are requesting this sign up. For more information on how to get started, please visit here
Why isn’t my city, town, or county listed?
If your city, town, or county is not listed, it could mean that no local elected officials have signed up your city, town, or county to be a Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) site. You are encouraged to connect with your mayor, city councilmembers, county executive, county commissioners or other local elected officials to see if they are interested in joining the LMCTC initiative. If they are interested, please ask them or their assigned designee to visit this link to commit to achieving the LMCTC goals and complete the brief survey. The survey will provide us with a better understanding of your community’s efforts to date and the support you may need to continue making progress.
If a local elected official (or designee) from your city, town, or county has signed up, but your city, town or county is still not listed on this website, please send an email to lmctc@nlc.org. If you do not know whether you have completed the survey, please send an email to lmctc@nlc.org.
An LMCTC site is listed only if your local elected official (or designee) has expressed his or her willingness to commit to achieving the LMCTC goals and completed the associated survey.
What role does the National League of Cities (NLC) play in addressing childhood obesity?
NLC is an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to helping local elected officials build better communities. Working in partnership with the 49 state municipal leagues, NLC serves as a resource to the more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns it represents. More than 2,000 municipalities of all sizes actively participate as leaders and voting members in the organization.
Through its Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), NLC has developed unique capacity to engage local elected officials across the nation in efforts to improve the health and development of children and youth. Since 2005, NLC has utilized this capacity to provide site-level technical assistance, support peer learning and exchange, disseminate promising practices, and stimulate local action to address childhood obesity. The breadth and depth of NLC’s efforts and strategic investments in this area provide a foundation to support local elected officials in developing and spreading promising local practices. To learn more about NLC’s community wellness initiatives, please visit http://www.nlc.org/iyef.
What support is National League of Cities (NLC) providing to local elected officials?
Building on NLC’s ongoing efforts to help communities prevent childhood obesity, NLC is committed to providing assistance to all local elected officials who want to take action to address the policy and environmental factors that impact childhood obesity. Local elected officials can benefit from participating in webinars, conference workshops and other peer learning opportunities that feature promising practices from across the country.
NLC also is leading efforts to enhance the work of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC). LMCTC is one of several initiatives that have been developed under the First Lady’s comprehensive Let’s Move! initiative. In this role, NLC helps local elected officials collaborate with other public, private, and nonprofit partners to implement policy and environmental changes that have the potential to prevent childhood obesity. NLC’s technical assistance for LMCTC sites includes coordinated access to subject matter experts, peer learning opportunities, and customized assistance through webinars, conference calls, and site visits, as appropriate.
What is Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC)?
Launched in 2010, LMCTC is an initiative that calls upon local elected officials to adopt long-term, sustainable and holistic approaches to addressing childhood obesity. Consistent with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, local elected officials who sign up as an LMCTC site are willing to commit to five goals. Developed with the role of local elected officials in mind, the five goals are designed to promote sustainable strategies that will directly impact the health of local leaders’ constituents.
LMCTC goals were identified because they are achievable and measurable and because they leverage existing federal initiatives. In addition, widespread adoption of these goals will highlight local action, enable city, town and county leaders to track their progress and that of their peers in communities across the nation, and accelerate momentum around the development of concrete, sustainable strategies to promote healthy eating and active living.
What are the five Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties goals?
Overarching
Consider forming a childhood obesity task force in your own community, or aligning with an existing task force, that engages a range of city agencies, partners, and constituents to achieve the goals of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties.
Goal I: Start Early, Start Smart
To provide children with a healthier start, local elected officials commit to helping early care and education program providers incorporate best practices for nutrition, physical activity and screen time into their programs.
Goal II: MyPlate, Your Place
To empower parents and caregivers, local elected officials commit to prominently displaying MyPlate in all municipally- or county-owned or operated venues where food is served.
Goal III: Smart Servings for Students
To provide healthy food in schools, local elected officials commit to increasing participation in the School Breakfast Program (SBP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
Goal IV: Model Food Service
To improve access to healthy, affordable foods, local elected officials commit to implementing healthy and sustainable food service guidelines that are aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in all municipally- or county-owned or operated venues where food is served.
Goal V: Active Kids at Play
To increase physical activity, local elected officials commit to mapping local playspaces, completing a needs assessment, developing an action plan, and launching a minimum of three proven policies, programs or initiatives aimed at increasing access to play.
Why were the five Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals the goals selected (versus other topics)?
In response to the need expressed by local elected officials for clear actions to address childhood obesity, federal and nongovernmental experts developed the five goals for LMCTC. The criteria for these goals included that they are evidence-informed, actionable by a local elected official, measurable, achievable, and don’t require substantial resources. Additionally, each goal aligns with a pillar of Let’s Move! and is a recommendation in the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President. Widespread adoption of these goals will highlight local action, enable city, town, and county leaders to track their progress and that of their peers in communities across the nation, and accelerate momentum around the implementation of concrete, sustainable strategies to promote healthy eating and active living.
Local elected officials provided feedback on the achievability of these goals with appropriate technical assistance. As LMCTC continues and communities achieve success, new goals will be added to ultimately meet the Let’s Move! goal of reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in a generation.
What does it mean to be a Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) site?
As an LMCTC site, local elected officials are willing to commit to LMCTC goals. National League of Cities (NLC) is leading all technical assistance efforts to help local elected officials achieve LMCTC goals, including collaborating with subject matter experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other experts who have experience implementing policy and environmental changes to address childhood obesity.
What do I, as a local elected official, do to sign up to be a Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) site?
There are two steps to becoming an LMCTC site:
– You must click here, to indicate your willingness to commit to the five LMCTC goals, and provide contact information, including your email address, which will be used to send you the associated survey.
– Once you receive the email with the survey link, please complete the survey. Your survey responses, including activities to date, will be used to inform technical assistance opportunities and to help keep track of your progress.Once I have committed to the goals and completed the survey, now what?
Now that you have signed up and indicated your willingness to commit to the five goals of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC), the National League of Cities (NLC) is ready to help you TAKE ACTION. The Take Action section (here) of this website will provide you with information on what do next. One step is to use the information you provided in your survey to determine which goal(s) should be a priority for your city, town, or county in order to ultimately achieve gold for all five goals. Furthermore, on the Take Action section, you will find Steps to Success for each of the goals.
Is there a one-pager available that summarizes Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties?
Please click here to access the downloadable one-pager describing the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties initiative.
If I completed the survey, do I have to wait for confirmation that I completed the survey correctly before I can move ahead on the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals?
You should have received an email indicating you completed the survey. If National League of Cities has any questions regarding the information provided or additional information that is needed, you will be contacted, but please keep the momentum going by proceeding to the “Take Action” page after receiving the confirmation email. Please note: If you have only submitted your contact information and have not yet answered the questions tied to the five LMCTC goals, you have not completed the survey. Additionally, please make sure you have answered all questions, including questions about goals for which no action has been taken. If you have questions, please contact lmctc@nlc.org.
Are there costs associated with joining the initiative? Do cities and towns need to pay membership fees to the National League of Cities (or other fees) to participate?
There are no costs associated with joining the initiative. Although National League of Cities (NLC) is a membership organization and collects dues from its members, cities and towns are not required to pay membership dues nor be a member of NLC to participate in Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties.
What is the projected timeline for this next chapter of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties?
This next chapter of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties was launched on July 18, 2012, and participating sites will be encouraged to complete the five LMCTC goals associated medals have a timeframe of 12 months to be accomplished. However, local elected officials can commit to the goals at any time. Next spring, National League of Cities (NLC) and its partners will review progress made in accomplishing these benchmarks to determine if any goals and associated medals need to be updated.
What happens when a Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) site earns a bronze, silver or gold medal?
When an LMCTC site indicates reaching a benchmark through the tracking survey, thereby earning a medal, their site will be recognized by NLC on the See Progress portion of this website. Click here to view LMCTC sites that have achieved medals.
What does the reporting for this initiative look like?
Initially, you will indicate your starting point on the five Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals when first completing the survey (the questions are tied to the goals and associated medals). Sites will be asked to update this information on a quarterly basis, unless they have already made updates recently. In order to earn a medal, you must update your progress using your survey link. You received your survey link in your confirmation email. If you have misplaced this message, please send an email to lmctc@nlc.org to request the link.
What if I do not meet the benchmarks outlined in the initiative?
This initiative is designed specifically to help local elected officials succeed in reaching the five Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals. National League of Cities (NLC) will do its best to help every participating city, town and county meet the gold-level benchmarks for each goal.
Once I, as a local elected official, sign up and start the process, will my community’s progress be visible to the public? For example, can people see which cities, towns, and counties are meeting benchmarks?
Individual city, town, and county profile pages will be designed to publicly display the community’s progress made on each goal. These pages, accessible through the “See Progress” tab, will be available this fall, enabling local elected officials to share their accomplishments and learn how their peers have made progress.
What technical assistance does National League of Cities (NLC) provide?
NLC collaborates with other nonprofit organizations and government agencies to help local elected officials accomplish Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals. NLC’s technical assistance includes coordinated access to subject matter experts, opportunities for peer learning, and customized assistance through webinars, conference calls, and site visits, as appropriate.
My city, town, or county has done a lot to prevent childhood obesity, but the work is not associated with the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) goals. What can I do?
National League of Cities (NLC) offers opportunities for you to share promising local efforts to address policies and environmental factors that positively influence childhood obesity rates. Please share your story with us by sending an email to iyef@nlc.org.
Furthermore, local elected officials can benefit from participating in NLC-supported webinars, conference calls and workshops that offer peer learning opportunities and feature promising practices from across the country.
Please note, in order to be featured as an LMCTC site on the website, you must be willing to commit to the five LMCTC goals and complete the associated survey.
What if I am not a local elected official, and I want to get involved in Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC)?
Connect with your mayor, city councilmembers, county executive, county commissioners or other local elected officials to see if they are interested in committing to the initiative. This LMCTC One-Pager may be helpful in educating them about the initiative. Additionally, you can become involved in the more comprehensive Let’s Move! initiative by checking out the other opportunities at www.letsmove.gov.
As a community member or community partner, how do I find out which local elected official or his/her designee signed up for my city, town, or county?
Check the map of Let’s Move! Cities, Towns, and Counties sites here
Is funding available to support our Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) efforts?
Although there is no funding specifically dedicated to participating LMCTC sites, National League of Cities (NLC) and its partners will disseminate information about opportunities to receive funding from other agencies and organizations that may be related to the LMCTC goals. A helpful funding resource is www.grants.gov.
