President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition to Hold Public Meeting
WASHINGTON — The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition will hold its first public meeting in three years on June 27, with members expected to revise old priorities and set new ones in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The panel’s last meeting was held on Aug. 27, 2020. Since then, President Joe Biden has reimagined some of its responsibilities by adding mental health, and its relation to physical health, to its agenda.
Other revisions Biden mandated by executive order in 2021 include a greater emphasis on transparency and encouraging council members to effectively act as health and wellness ambassadors in their states and local communities.
Established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 as the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, today’s council aims to “engage, educate and empower” Americans to live a healthier life through physical activity and nutrition, according to its website.
The organization is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Its activities include recognizing people who advanced the field, sponsoring May’s National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, partnering with the National Fitness Foundation, and working with its own Science Board to grow youth-sport related research and promote the National Youth Sports Strategy.
The new council, nominated by Biden in March, features high-profile athletes like NBA All-Star Stephen Curry and Olympic gold-medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim.
The other council members are Maribel Campos Rivera, Tamika Catchings, Ayesha Curry, Jon Feinman, Tina Flournoy, Jose Garces, J. Nadine Gracia, Meg Ham, Kahina Haynes, Ryan Howard, Martin E. Ingelsby, Barbie Izquierdo, Ben Jacobs, Chaunte Lowe, Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, Elana Meyers Taylor, Dariush Mozaffarian, Kim Ng, Allison O’Toole, Oluwaferanmi Oyedeji Okanlami, Laura Ricketts, Stefany Shaheen, Billy Shore, Michael Solomonov and Melissa Stockwell.
Biden’s other appointees include co-chairs José Andrés, a culinary innovator, educator and humanitarian, and Elena Delle Donne, a WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist. He also named Rachel Fisher as acting executive director.
The council works closely with the National Fitness Foundation, a group created by an act of Congress, and the Science Board, a subcommittee of the council.
The National Fitness Foundation aims to “accelerate solutions that prepare children for a lifetime of health and fitness,” according to its website. Part of this is leading the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, the nation’s model for fitness assessment and education in schools.
The Science Board “helps elevate scientific research related to physical activity, physical fitness, sports, and nutrition,” according to its website.
This year’s event runs from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on June 27. It’s available to the public in-person at the Hubert H. Humphrey building and virtually at hhs.gov/live, and registration is required for both.
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