Asst. Health Secretary & Second Gentleman on Mental Health : CSPAN : June 1, 2024 5:47pm-6:45pm EDT : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive (2024)

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>> the constitution is very limited. let's look at what we have before us. the first flag flying the american flag upside down. >> all right. [gavel bangs] good afternoon. welcome to the national press club, the place where news happens. my name is emily wilkins. i am honored to be the 117th president of the national press club and a d.c. correspondent for cnbc. thanre and online for our headliner event at the present council on sports, fitness and nutrition. we are happy to accept your questions today, w questions one or email headliners@ nationalpressclub.org.

please write legibly, i cannot ask what i cannot read food health experts say american youth are in a crisis, they are lonely and isolated, bullied online and off-line and beset with anxiety. health secretary has called mental health of the defendant has crisis of ourbut . a recent study published in "pediatrics," found physical fitness may prevent depression, anxiety and add in adolescence. as america marks national physical fitness and sports medical and mental health awareness month, we are happy to welcome several distinguished leaders in health and fit to discuss how sports, fitness and nutrition can improve the at any age. today we will be hearing from several folks. admiral richard levine,

assistant secretary for health for the u.s. department of health and human services. brandon gasaway, senior director of social impact for the nba, and■# dr. feranmi okanlami, whoi have been told i can just call dr. which is great, a and director of student accessibility and accommodation services at the university of michigan. unfortunately, olympic gold medalist elena delle donne it is under the weather and unable to join us, but i am very excited for the panel we have today. [applause] thank you. to begin our discussion with ist honor to welcome second gentleman doug emhoff, an attorney and has been such a vice president who has used his platform to advocate for gender equality, justice issues, health and well-being. he has traveled to 37 sets send 14 countries meeting with health care professionals, parents,

teachers, caregivers, community leaders, legal aid providers, community organizers in rural and urban areas as well as color and tribal communities, to hear their stories, and to share how the administration is working to help their families. please join me in the well-for america second gentleman, doug emhoff. [ause] mr. emhoff: thank you, emily and thanks for hosting us, national press club, this place is incredible, thanks for that. today, as emily mentioned he is here to talk about youth mental health. right now there is a mental health crisis in our nation. depression, loneliness, and anxiety are increasing in young people. what in five teenagers reported difficulty with anxiety or depression.

as you mentioned, i have tr the country including with our great surgeon general, dr. vivek murthy, who as you mentioned, described mental health as the defining public health crisis of our time, and he is right. together as we have travele we have spoken with health care workers and community leaders about their efforts to provide mental health services to the youth. they have shared with us some of the factors making this crisis even worse -- covid, social media, gun batteries climate anxiety. they have all exacerbated this crisis. we have solutions. the solutions are out there to address these very real and mmon mental health challenges, but we have to take action. we have got to make sure we get these solutions out there.

must provide each and every child with high quality and accessible and affordable health care. e to expand school-based mental health services and counselor trainings and we need more professionals as well. we have to create a safer and healthier online spaces, so critical. we have to push back on horrible content, but we have to promote more positive content on these platforms. also, there is physical activity. physical activity can also boost mental health. it enhances mood and self-esteem. it helps us better manage our l well-being, how we connect with others. as second gentleman, i have hosted events all over the world to help improve youth mental health through sports, including

partnering with the nba at a youth basketball clinic in ghana. rticipated in a fireside chat with players to uplift women sports during all-star weekend. and i have collaborated with a nonprofit kaboom, which isbaltimore, ensuring there is equity in play space, making sure is available to all children. sports, and have seen this all over the country and the world, sports brings us together. sports has the ability to bring people together and encourage us to live active and healthiers. for■>■ young people of participation in sports and other physical activity is crucial to success on so many levels. kids who play sports, it has

been shown, are less likely to be anxious or depressed, they are more likely to feel more uw communities, have better social skills, and . so it's all good. they have helped me. i was an athlete growing up, obsessed with sports, and i still am, andanhow much it has y career as a lawyer and even ■#doing this, with the confidene to be able to go around the country and around the world to talk to. i get a lot of that because i played a lot of sports. so, there you go. president biden and vice president harris recognize how critical youth mental healthy is to our country schiphol future which is why they brought partners to expand access to sports to our children. into 2022 president biden hosted the first white house conference on hunger, nutrition, and health

in 50 years, that was long overdue. i suppose at that conference along with ambassador susan rice and other young leaders to promy lifestyles in their communities. then in 2023, the biden-harris administration and no white house challenge to end hunger and build healthy communities. for a nationwide call to action to inspire bold commitments from stakeholders all across the country earlier this year i was proud to announce one of these new commitments. a historic partnership between sports leagues, players associations, and the president's council on sports, fitness and nutrition food so we are doing the work. since the announcement we have seen sports leagues all deliver communities. spoke at the miami

open to welcome the u.s. tennis association to the partnership. they are working with the president's council to make tennis more accessible and to host public events that focus on nutrition and exercise. and just last month i hosted an event with sec. tom vilsack and the nfl, we visited a middle school in detroit to highlight the latest updates school nutrition standards. these efforts makeeal difference in the lives of young people across our country. so as we mark national physical fitness and sports month as well as mental health awareness month, i want everyoneo know that the biden-harris administration will continue to fight to ensure that young people have access to mental health resourcesor physical act. we want, we must have every child in every community grow up and lead healthy, happy, andsuc.

thank you all for your partnership and your commitment to this important issue. have a good conference. thank you. [applause] emily: thank you so much. those were absolutely fantastic opening remarks.we are about tog into on this panel. dr. o, i want to start with you, you are one of the members of the president's council. talk a bit about wha the current priorities are and what the council's overarching goal is. dr. okanlami: thank you, emily. thank you all for being here today. focusing on physical fitness has been one of our top priorities and it still is, but we have now recognizes that nutrition is vitally important as well. making sure every american has access to good nutrition a those

primary tenets of what we're doing at the presidents council, making sure every american is aware of the importance of those federal programs that that improve access to fitness and nutrition. emily: staying on nutrition for a moment, what are some of the biggest goals? why have we gotten to a point where nutrition had to be added alonth physical fitness and what are the o making sure americans have good nutrition and a good balance of things to eat? dr. okanlami: it starts with what you put in. as a physician i see countless patients and we know tt twice the number of individuals in this country have diabetes now than just several years ago. if we don't have access to good nutrition then whatever you are doing, even the physical activity, beginning the process is important. don't have adequate access to healthy foods for our children, we can't expect them to live healthy lives, of

focusing on what we give our children to eat from when they are young is the type of thing that creates the practices and beliefs that you carry with you as you get to be an adult.■m emily: i wanted to ask you a little bit about the partnership the presidents council recently announced, a first-of-its-kind, with every major sports leagues and players association and the country, of course the nba is included. talk a that partnership. what has -- what is that much to do, why is that sort of historic in terms of the council ship overall history? dr. okanlami: we are very proud to be partners. we see ourselves as having a very unique role in this, a very unique opportunity. i can say from my childhood that something or if my mom told me, there was a good chance i would. but if kobe bryant said it, i was listening! [laughter] so we went toplatform, that ente hearts and minds of folks to

brinre messages like mental health, environment for young people to grow up and learn to play and be their best selves. how does this partnership works? are you sending kids to the nba, are they getting lessons from stephen curry or? brandon: brandon: a variety of ways. we hosted the second gentleman at our all-star event this past week where we had -- as well as the surgeon general, where we leveraged our platform to talk about these important messages. we had a conversation called nemakers where it was common, a'ja wilson, cj mccollum of the about how they are affected in their personal lives and invine strength.

they seem impenetrable. but when they speak to the steps they have to take to take care of their own mental health, how they are affected by mental health and how they keep up with their own wellness, it shows that this is something that affects all should take that step. emily: admiral levine, of course you oversee a giant swath of the work hhs does when it comes to health and mental health in particular. talk a bit about what hss is doing right now on youth mental health given there is this new environment where kids are now up online so much more. adm. levine: thank you very much for the opportunity to be here and you are entirely correct, as the second gentleman had talked about, mental health is a crisis now particularly among our youth. i am a pediatrician, adolescent medicine in academic medicine for many years beflíe i was able to go into public service and public health, so i

know firsthand from my clinical experience how important it is, intersection between physical health and mental health. so this extension between fitness and physical activity and sports and nutrition and mental health has been an absolute natural fit. mental health in our youth has been challenged even before the acute phase of the covid-19 pandemic. but certainly, the covid-19 pandemic affected everyone and really iac our youth. now that we are out of the acute phase of the pandemic,still strl health of our youth as general n highlighting. hhs undersecretary becerra has been dedicated towards improving youth mental health. there are many programs under hrsa, samhsa, the whole alphabet soup of different divisions in hhs that are concentrating on the workforce, that the second

gentleman was talking about, and then different programs to support youth. it is a really important time, however, to also mention samhsa 's program critical that everyoe knows about that, the parents and the youth know about 988. emily: it is like 911, pick up the phone and dial -988. adm. levine: of course kids don't just dial, a text. you can dial and text 988 and get her trained counselors that can help young people, and adults, as well. it's very important to highlight that resource. emily: who should use 988? thoughts, sounds like that would be a good number to call. but if you just feel really down or depressed and you have never feltnd it's been going on for a while, is it a good time to call 988?

adm. levine: absolutely, it's a resource for mental health challenges as well as for having overt suicidal thoughts. so t order to help. emily: do you have -- you do have a background as a pehow bad is it right now for ks growing up? i know to a certain extent, bullying and teasing has always been something a lot of us dealt with online or not but what, does that mean now that so many kids have social media profiles and so much of what they are doing online? adm. levine: i think the impact upon the technology and particularly social media has significantly exacerbated, significantly made worse mental health■ challenge especially the issue of loneliness, which the surgeon general emphasizes. there are statistics that youth might spend less than one or two hours a day with other young people, if they are very

concentrated on their phones, and it isolates them. you would like to think that social media might bring people together. it's not really what happens for youth. so that is why sports, as emphasized by the president's council, is so important, because sports naturally brings young people together and that is why participation in sports is so important. emily: dr. o, you yourself were an athlete. tell us about your mental health journey, how you navigated mental illness as a student athlete and now as a physician and in the many roles throughout your life. dr. okanlami: thanks, emily. i will adjust the question a bit and say that i am an athlete. i will talk about that. we talk about access. for those of you that can see me, i am a wheelchair user. an't see me, i am a wheelchair user. when we don't have access to physical activity, when he don't get all the benefits of the

second gentleman mentioned. imagine an individual in your community that is a wiltshire user. think about your community. does the child have access to sports where they are? not to say that wheelchair users are the most important part of the population, but i am using the example. i was a track and field athlete at stand for. in my third year of residency, i experienced a spinal cord injury and that is why i am now a wheelchair user. prior to that point, i didn't recognize how inaccessible our inaccessible our health care. system was so it was at that point i started to see life from the other side of the stethoscope. i now see how inaccessible our world in for a community that has a need. if you use that community is an example for the type of access we need, without access to health and nutrition, access to physical activity, access to an education, all the benefits that

the second gentleman mentioned will be lost. so it is not that i focus my work now on the disability community becausere most important, it is because if we use the disability community as an example, it is ubiquitous from the disability does not discriminate based on race, gender, economic status. i te that if you build with those most vulnerable in mind, everyone has access. picture this. i have seen a cartoon used. imagine a school and it has snowed overnight. there is a set of stairs all the students use and then there is a ramp. there is one child in that the ramp. there are 500 kids using the stairs. the custodian starts shoveling off the stairs because of course, 500 kids nd et into the building, but the wiltshire user says,, if you shovel the ramp first, all of us can get in. so what types of programs can we create that build more literal and figurative ramps to give

people access? i know i didn't say much about what my work is, but as a physician who runs the disability services for the university of michigan, my role is providing equitable access to the university of michigan experience for every single student with her that is their academic accommodations, whether it is testing accommodations, and i am proud to say that i am the founding director of the adaptive sports and fitness program which, the seco■ond gentleman was at the paralympic games a few years ago, i am not sure if you plans on going again, but there is still sports for the disabled community. there are two movements. one from early focusing on individuals with intellectual impairment, and one on those with ament. but all of these improve the mental health of the individuals we serve. there are many facets of this world that we can connect the pieces to give access to all those benefits we mentioned are felt by everyone. [applause] emily: dr. o, i asked admiral

levine a bit i think about kids, and you work with college students, so i will kind of pose a similar question to you. how have youee the socialness, the atmosphere on college campuses shift, the more online in yopebecome? dr. okanlami: admiral levine hit it on the head. we think social media is meant to connect, and in ways it absolutely does. but it can be very isolating while so. i work with college students, i also have a 13-year-old son. i have this view day of the tran students are going through, when i was 13, i didn't have access to the internet. the immediacy with which students are getting feedback now, which is not always i8positive, helps to contributeo that loneliness. similarly at the collegeq■■n ag.

so we can leverage technology and social media for good, but we have to recognize the damage iting too much on that and if we do use it, that we continue to pump out messages in those spaces. i know many people that learn a lot from tiktok and all these other social media channels. so if our children are going to be on them, we need to be meeting them where they are and putting good information in those spaces, as well. adm. levine: an example i was talking about with the surgeon geral with that back in the day, when we were in college, the biggest activity was dinner. he would go to dinner and there would be conversation at dinner and with young people, college students studying many different things, lking about their studies, their social life. walking to the cafeteria now, it is pretty quiet and everyone is on their phone. it's very different experience, very different social experience. that would be an example of some of the challenges young people face.

■n■3emily: i would open the flor for this question. regulatory perspective. you see lawmakers say we need these social media companies to step up. and the company's say, the app folks who look at congress and say you are actually the one who needs to set certain parameters and regulations. from your on-the-ground experience, what, at the end of the day, will make a difference for these young people in terms of how they use social media? adm. levine: i think it's incumbent upon the federal government, and we have a test force at hhs working on that with other departments as well, looking at safety. for young people on social media. and so i think it is incumbent upon the executive branch and the congress to make sure that social media is safe. to try to limit misinformation,

disinformation on social media. i don't think the federal government will change the culture about that. that really will need to involve all of us. all of us not only in washington, d.c. but in, local areas, communities, to really try to help young people with sports and with other activities, to be out there and interacting with their peers as opposed to just on their phones. i don't think that can come just from washington. emily: brandon, i saw that you were about to respond as well. brandon: yes, on the infrastructure side, we have a program called night health which we started in018 led by jimmy white, former w nba player, stanford cardinal. and dr. hunter, clinical psychologist. it is to put that infrastructure in place -- not only for

our players, but for league personnel so they have safety nets in place, learning how to deal with scales like stress, work-life balance, prioritization. life in the league is a very .umultuous and difficult thing and we are very cognizant of this especially for our young players. so before men or women in the wnba entered the league during summer league, during rookie transition, doing something called a top 100 that we do for the top 100 prospects, they are exposed to these practices and tools that we have at the league. each team has one or two mental health professionals on staff that are accesble to each player and personnel on the team. there is a psychologist also avn programs to teach skills, but also what to do if you are in crisis and how to manage that. but also, presenting that as all mental health is not a crisis. it's not illness. it's a spectrum of things and

having a deeper understanding and connectivity with that you better manage that. dr. okanlami: i also think one thing we need to do a better job of it is the stigmatizing mental health. you just menti■&oned when we tak about mental health, i think people think about the negative side of mental health. we think about illness, negative, loss or lack off. but mental health encompasses all of that. so we should also promote messages about good1z mental health and positive mental health. it gets back to another thing i talk about after the witches that we see disability as a four letter word mental illness is something people see as a deficit÷j mindset rather than as sort of a spectrum ofave. especially our youth, when they see or hear that they have an illness, it is stigmatizing. it makes them feel different and

othered. i am not ashamed to say that my 13-year-old son has a therapists therapist. when we de-stigmatize mental healths around it, we then don't separate people and make them feel othered. that is something we can do on social media as well. emily: can you give an example of reframing mental he i because i think when people hear the term mental health, they frequently think of those who have a mental illness and need either a prescription medication t positive way to do that? dr. okanlami: i will actually say that i think what we need to do is de-stigmatize the fact someone might take a medication. not to separate that and say that those who take medicine are different, but those who take medicine, use wheelchairs, have

low vision, have anxiety, depression or bipolar, they are no different than anyone else. and letting people know that in this audience i can guarantee you there is an individual that may be taking psychiatric medication. you can't necessarily see them because they don't say it on their chest like a scarlet letter but by talking about that and making sure people know number such as 988, having programs like the campaign we have at the president's council so that kids can see ways to get out and get active, i don't think we will eliminate the negative aspects of mental illness, but by capitalizing on the resources that we have like the national youth sports strategy, promoting postings on social media, it will give young people an opportunity to then see themselves. when we seek partnerships with the nba, wnba athletes talking about their own mental health journey, think it will normalize things. i don't think we can eliminate the negative aspects

of mental health, but by pushing up the positive things to have come to that, that is a good approach. adm. levine: i agree with dr. oh completely. we need to destigmatize the issue in terms of mental health and challenges to mental health. it is critically important. i also think it's important to view it as wellness. not only physical wellness -- bl activity, trition, but also mental health and wellness. a metaphor i have often used in young people in talking with groups is the eye of the hurricane. storms. tremendous storms over the desk over much of the country. we are entering hurricane season. 'the winds of the hurricane are very, very strong. it is sort of a metaphor for our lives, which are stressful. young people have stress. but in the eye of the hurricane, calm and peaceful. so we need to help young people

findetthemselves. so that is different for every person and variable -- different for every young person. it might be sports, art, music, their faith, their pets, but something the centers them. everybody needs to find that for themselves. brando somet is, we hear these anecdotes about players like lebron james to spend a million dollars a year on their body and physical health leading up to games and seasons. there is massages, stretching, strength, cardio, all sorts of things. that seems prioritization should be put on your mental health. is not just oh, i have this injury. if you are a constant maintenance and preparation for daily life, not just the game, but your daily life, looking at it that same way with that same level preparation. . emily: brandon, i wanted to ask you a little bit, you work with

nba players who are absolutely household names, talk a bit about how they should be using their platform to normalize mental health stigma and communicate with young people about wellness. brandon: we have abetremendous . demar derozan of the chicago bulls has written about this, has done speaking, many others, talking about this from their personal experience. everyone's experience is different and uniq i but it's not absent from any of us. we all have something we should take care of in our own lives, and players speaking authentically to that makes it feel■d ok, especially for youngr people to really wrestled with that and deal with it in their own way. emily: and working with the nba, i often think of them as

physical activity, but he also mentioned there are folks on each team try to take care of the mental well-being of their players. talk about the nba's hist focuss the physical. brandon: yes. we try to put the same weight on both from the nexium investment and prioritization. in 2017, we worked with the players association to really set standards in place of those consistency across the board for the team, to have those resources available for players. in 2017 there was what we call requirements and recommendations. and put them together. they go out on an annual basis. in 2018, mind health was developed. it was really to put all of that work under one umbrella and partnership with the players association and really focus on three things.

first, humanizing mental health, talking about it in a no way , like it is something that theg that lived experience that i ta a before. and then elevated your participation within that. so, folks can see thatt may be stigmatized in some places, it is something that is crial to success as a player that can be crucial to your success in whatever arena you may bring it to, or just getting along day today. it's how we have done it and our players have really embraced that which is really great for me to see personally because it helps folks who might not want tos. who might have some sort of apprehension, to give it that second thought.

emily: and dr. oh, that we talked about covid-19 and its impacts. i would like to ask you the question directly as someone who sits on the president's council for fitness and sports and nutrition. have you seen a change in the aftereffects on the council of the covid-19? dr. anlami: covid exacerbated things that already existed. this mental health crisis is worse. access to physical activity is worse. so one of the things we can use to talk about the partnerships, while it's great for the wnba and mlb players to use their platforms to get m out , partnering with the president's council is wonderful because they are helpi tamplifyl programs that exist. while lebron can get on tv and say something, if that child doesn't know wha exist in their community, and they will not have access.

that is one of the things you are most proud of that we will be able to do together, is amplify the message and by then making sure people are aware of federal programs that they may not have known, provide better access to them and their communities. emily: 988 was a great thing to remind folks about. is there any programs that the council has that you feel did not get the attention they deserve and are worthy of a shout out now so that people know about them? dr. okanlami: i mentioned the national youth sports strategy. to become a champion, you get it to that allows you to promote rograms you do. to■z become one of these, you apply. it's not like there's some complicated application process. but it elevates grassroots programs wherever they are who are already providing access, but people may not know that those programs exist. so by becoming a national youth sports strategy champion, we are not reinventing the wheel, we

are elevating the work of people in the communities already doing it. as we speak right now, we have some awards coming from the president's council that will also give people an opportunity to demonstrate the leadership in their community and the programs they had built. so we have wonderful things that exist, but awareness is sometimes the problem so these historic partnerships and the work of the council and all the work admiral levine does through her office i think are helping with that. emily: and admiral levine, you have the olympics and the paralympics coming up. i am wondering if we can expect anything from hhs or the president's council, trying to have some awareness for mental health, mental wellness around the time? adm. levine: there will be activities. the president's council at that time will be highlighting those amazing events. we are very thrilled and excited about the work of the president's council, with dr. o,

with elena delle donne and chef mbers, some of whom are here, who are doing so much work both in washington, but actually locally, they come from throughout the country, highlighting these critical issues. highlighting the importance of physical health and mental health, the importance of nutrition in terms of food security and nutrition security and the parallel work in terms of food is medicine. so when we have great events like the paralympics and special olympics, it just highlights these issues. emily: i have also seen athletes who have become more vocal about the struggles they have had with -- the mental struggles they have had. the issues. i feel like in the last olympics, we watched a say, hey, i am not in the headspace. forgive me if this is not the best term to use, but she had something where she had to step back and reassess and make that call for her own health and safety. i am wondering if■ you are seeig

more athletes begin to talk about things like that and if there is a particular reason why you're seeing that shift now? folks are definitely getting more comfortable doing that. brandon: having, some of the guys i mentioned earlier, show that leadership that you can do that and it's ok, it will not affect your career or affect your endorsem*nts for how people see you. but you can talk about these y and it's good to benefit a large group of people. we have this partnership that gives access to experts where we can make sure they are getting materials and resources for themselves but that they can go and■t discuss them in public forums. we have sourced all that, if you put nba mind health into google, you will see all of that, members and players of the nba about their own personal journeys and it is very encouraging to see that continue to grow not only in our league, but across all sports.

emily: i know there has been a lot of promotion about sports. but it has also been a number of headlines in recent years about force injuries, particularly co and the impact on players both in the moment and then going forth,+$ for their adult lives i know. it's been studied by the ncaa, for professional leagues. dr. o, since you are currently at the university, has there l has done in interacting with these issues, injuries and concussions, what needs to be done to make sure that those who play can remain safe? dr. okanlami: the president's council is a federal advisory council. while we ourselves have and this in something directly, we amplify the work of others, so there is a lot of work that has

been done around safe sports and safe play. we have worked with individuals to try to make sure there is something called safe sport that we need to do. i don't need to collect any institution, but there is one that does some work that --around concussion prevention. so the council helps to amplify work being done in other spaces. i will be more direct and say that i don't know of right now a specific condition that we're working on with respect to concussions but we have organizations doing concussion work themselves anwe amplifying them in general. emily: we talked about social media. i know that biden administration has turned to social media influencers to get out certa messages that they have in trying to be able to promote certain things that they are doing with the government. i am wondering if there has been a consideration to using some of those most loudest voices on social media, maybe not by people who are the youth follow and pay attention to, and using that to get out the messages about some of the mental health impacts social media can have?

adm. levine: there, of course, social media platforms used by the white house and others used by hhs and other departments, including we rely upon twitter and others. there are different platforms where we try to get our message out because we know that young people and adults are using the social media platforms so we want to be there so we can highlight the great work the president's council is doing and we are doing across hhs. emily: how do you think about crafting those messages where it is sort of like, hey, you are a social media, get off social media. have a good day? [laughter] adm. levine: so it's not that social media inherently is bad. it's a tool, a platform. we don't want people to only be on social media. we want young people to be playing sports. to be doing other activities and interacting with their peers.

buwe people are on social media, their parents exists. it's not going to go away. even though there are recommendations to make sure it is safe and regulations that it is safe, we are going to use the tools we have to get our message across. dr. okanlami: i was going to say that one thing tresident's council does, we talk about the fact of physical activity can come in many, many forms. while so we talk about sports today sports are one way permit dances is another form of physical activity. getting out and walking your dog is another form of activity. so we put a combination of videos together for our "move your way" campaign to talk about the way we move. to show everyone that it doesn't have to be an organized team sport. but if you are already on social media and you will be seeing this, we want people to see that being active is any form of

activity. encouraging people to do whatever it is, if it is bachata, tap dance, swimming, running, tennis, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, whatever you, are doing that is why we are trying to leverage that platform to g■ et those messages out so that the historic way we think about is the collectivity inot what we are limiting it to, even a youth sports now, even video games are more active than they used to be back in the day. emily: and for students, have we seen -- are there any particular tren that have come with how many kids are playing sports or on teams, on■ dance teams, on cheer teams, doing things that could qualify as physical activity? is there any data as to how -- if that has changed over time?

adm. levine: obviously with the acute phase of the pandemics, there were challenges with that. but it is coming back. but i don't have specific data. emily: like people are getting back to being on teams, feeling more comfortable being less than six feet apart from their peers. interesting. dr. okanlami: i would say that if my sense sports calendar is an example, we are always traveling to some soccer travel game or baseball game. our country is doing a much better job of youth sports. back when i played youth soccer, there weren't as many opportunities to play. we are starting to professionalize a youth sports a little bit, which i have my thoughts on, but i do see more opportunities for kids to play ana lot more sports that they can play as well. emily: i remember a kid growing up where it felt like they had a part-time job as an amateur , so many places and doingi'm curious on what your thoughts are if you're trying to sell the idea

healthyd for everyone, how do you mesh that with these very intense time commitment, sports he leagues? ■bdr. okanlami: on my way here,i got an email because my son's soccer season is wrapping up and they are about to have trials for next year. there is something called the elite 64 which is like a national travel soccer. my son plays multiple sports. yo to, as you said, over do anything in one particular sport. but if you are at home, whether you are mom or dad or uncle, family it is, having a conversation about what is reasonable for you and making sure the child is centered in the conversation so it is not over■-bearing parents forcing tm to do something, but the child having autonomy to choose what level of play they want to have. i think it can go to an extreme, but making sure you are having a conversation and including the child in the conversation doesn't mean you let them make every single decision.

but at least if you are making them feel involved in participating. almost like a choose your own adventure story to say, how much of this do you want, while having adults in the room making sure there keeping an eye on them. emily: i in recent years, sports gambling has become■8 legal, more widely accepted, more individuals getting involved with it. of course gambling can be a fun and harmless activity. but it can also be addictive and lead people to get themselves and their families into very, very bad spaces. feel free to an. but is there anything that hhs is specifically doing when it comes to sports gambling. adm. levine: i know that samhsa has resources for people who have gambling adction. it has not been probably a priority for hhs, but there are some resources.

f you have anything to add on that? brandon: it is something we certainly pay close attention to, we invest a number of resources in making sure that folks have access to the responsible gaming resources. we do psa's throughout the year and make them available on our website. we have partnerships with th national council a gaming to making sure we amplify their messaging as well permit we also put limits on the amount of advertising in every nest is soe definitely aware of and doing our best to play our part. dr. okanlami: as a family medicine physician, i will take this opportunity to highlight the fact that we mentioned addictn,ictions are not just someone being a bad person. reflecting on the fact that you r primary care provider or physician if somebody you can talk to about this, this goes back to de-stigmatizing mental health and mental illness and letting people know you can

speak to your physician about this if you think gambling is a problem, to make sure that we are not ostracizing individuals who identify as having that as a struggle, making sure the resources that exist in your community are something you are aware of as well. emily: we also have another many who participated in president's council's programs in remember getting badges and incentives in the past. do they still exist in the digital dr. okanlami: what many people refer to as you know, you probably remember pe, you had the presidential fitness test we had to do. i think i can be comfortable saying that the president's council over the years has recognized that while the goal of that was to encourage physical activity, it started to make peoplfeel as thou they weren't achieving. so i think the programs we have now, we have these programs that we are elevating such as the nationalouth sports

strategies, something that you do get these digital badges, you get the toolkit i mentioned earlier. it is probably the closest reflection of what that iteration was. but we also have president council members working to make sure the programs that exist in their communities, that the expertise that exists, is something that the president's council is amplifying. we as individuals are not promoting our own work, but having this council is just a wonderful opportunity as a nation tst information out. emily: i wanted to take a minute and ask those on the council if they could stand up for a minute and let everyone see who you are and be recognized? [applause] thank you, didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. i appreciate it. [laughter]

i want to take a moment to thank the organizers of this event, headliners, team coup leaders. today's headliner event coordinator, today's washington program manager, the club nd toit is also my honor to pret each of you with the coveted national press club mug, given to ambassadors, very famous people, public officials. we hope yo drink any cups of coffee from it, plus the alcoholic beverage of your choosing. now for our final each intern sg with you, admiral. with schedules, what is your secret to staying physically and mentally sharp? adm. levine: it is important for all of us to have some activities in which we consider ourselves and deal with the stress all of us face in life,

in our personal and professional lives. for me,ther go for a walk or i will swimi and keep me best i given the schedules we have. emily: brandon? brandon: it might be oio hoop ai can. [laughter] youv@ see the shoes. i tried to ball as much as i can and filter in exercise in my activities. i will try to walk and avoid driving, or do things i can walk to or have physical activities involved instead of the latter. emily: doctor, you're still an athlete. dr. okanlami: i tried to do my best. i don't stay as active as i

should. sports we are trying to promote like wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis. adaptive sports are not sports for people with disabilities, they are merely sports that are more inclusive for everyone. since my man as if anybody wants the smoke on the record, i will basketball. [applause] brandon. okanlami: it is a sport keeps everyone just like he has got on a pair of shoes to play basketball, being in a sport chair is not being in a medical device. it is a piece of sport equipment that everyone can use. if we have every local ymca offering for anyone who wants to play in the community, that child will have a team to play sports with them. keeping up with my 13-year-old and training to take him down. [laughter] emily: we will look forward to

that particular matchup. thank you all so much, thank you to our fantastic panel for being here, and thank you to everyone innce for being great participants and all the great questions. thank you so much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsib for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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