Councilmember Debbie Bertlin and City Recreation Superintendent Diane Mortenson joined first lady Michelle Obama, representatives from the National League of Cities (NLC) and several federal agencies at the White House on Sept. 16,  for a celebratory event honoring the achievements of the Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) initiative.

Obama commended the cities on providing opportunities for citizens to lead healthier lives, despite “dealing with tight budgets and competing priorities.”

“There’s no one solution to the problem of childhood obesity,” she said. “[But] all these changes are starting to add up. Childhood obesity rates have finally stopped rising, and they’re falling among our youngest children.”

She announced that 500 cities, towns and counties, including Mercer Island, have committed to the five goals in the LMCTC initiative since July 2012.

LMCTC is a key part of Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative and helps local elected officials, their staff and communities ensure all children grow up healthy and have the ability to reach their full potential.

To date, approximately 80 million Americans live in a city, town or county participating in LMCTC.

“What we’re doing together is actually working,” she said. “We’re hitting a real tipping point on this issue… We’re on the cusp of historic change as long as we keep moving forward.”

Mercer Island received recognition as one of 52 cities nationwide (and one of only two in Washington state) attaining gold medal status in all five of the campaign’s goals.

But Obama said that this “isn’t the time to pat ourselves on the back; it’s time to double down.”

The next step for Mercer Island is accomplishing a set of “All Star” objectives: Bicycle Friendly Community; City Design Guidelines; Slow Zones; Healthy Meeting Guidelines; Business Recognition Program; Farmers’ Markets; Community Gardens/Urban Agriculture; and Breastfeeding Policies.

Several of these represent great opportunities to incorporate healthy living policies into work already underway in areas such as city design guidelines, the Farmers Market and Business Recognition Programs, Bertlin said.

“Achieving this level of awareness for a healthy lifestyle through good nutrition and physical activity would not have been possible without the dedicated collaboration of so many supportive local partners,” Bertlin said. “And the community engagement has been truly impressive.”

“It makes sense to prioritize the health and well-being of residents starting with the youth of the Island,” Mortenson said.

Learn more at www.letsmovemercerisland.com.