4. School nutrition will be in the spotlight

With two young children in the White House, President Obama is expected to support legislation designed to improve the nutritional standards of foods provided through school breakfast and lunch programs. The current front runner for the position of Surgeon General, Sanjay Gupta, MD, is also known for his commitment to fighting the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic through his work with CNN’s Fit Nation program. It’s believed that if Dr. Gupta gets the job, he will make fitness and nutrition a big part of his public policy work.

I know that I may be being a little too optimistic. With two wars waging overseas, Wall Street on the brink of collapse, and unemployment skyrocketing, it’s clear that food and nutrition policy will take the backseat to the more pressing issues in the short term. Some food experts and bloggers, in fact, are already expressing disappointment with some of Obama’s food-related decisions so far.

But I think it’s just something that the most watched man in the world is now one of the fittest presidents of modern times: He’s talked openly about his struggle to quit smoking, plays basketball with his personal assistant every morning, and is reportedly a big fan of pistachios, protein bars, tea, broccoli, spinach, and shrimp. I hope that over the next four years, we’ll see a lot more of those healthy decisions, both in his personal life and in his policies.

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