March is National Nutrition Month, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of ACS CANŠ—'s efforts to reduce overweight and obesity, which are proven to cause cancer.

The report includes the latest information about the trends of youth tobacco use and its devastating impact on health. The report also details the tobacco industryŠ—'s continued efforts to addict kids to its deadly products through insidious marketing and promotion directed at youth.

This week, I was invited to speak about the realities of MassachusettsŠ—'s health care reform at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkŠ—'s National Forum on the Future of Health Care in Washington, DC. Because our reform serves as the model for the Affordable Care Act, and because our experience is so often misrepresented in the public discourse, I welcomed the opportunity.

Yesterday was an incredible day at ACS CAN Š—– we held our first-ever National Forum on the Future of Health Care and it was a huge success! The conference focused on how to ensure that people living with cancer and other chronic diseases have access to quality health care.

Big Tobacco is about to meet a challenge in the state of California. Yesterday, ACS CAN CEO Dr. John Seffrin announced a pledge to support CaliforniaŠ—'s Proposition 29, the California Cancer Research Act, an historic ballot initiative that would make California the second largest funder of cancer research Š—– after the U.S. federal government.

The President released his Fiscal Year 2013 budget yesterday, and I was deeply disappointed to see that his proposal cut funding for cancer research. This comes just weeks after the President specifically highlighted the importance of cancer research in his State of the Union address.

I was excited by the news today that the USDA released new nutritional standards for school meals that have the potential to significantly improve the quality of the food our children are served at school.

As we observe Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, we should consider his inspiring statement when he said that "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are we doing for others?'" Dr. King's work impacted millions of Americans.

Today, when consumers pick a health coverage plan they are given a long document filled with complicated jargon that is virtually impossible for them to understand. An important provision in the Affordable Care Act, known as the Summary of Benefits and Coverage provision, was written to change that.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took an important step today to address the illegal sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to kids. The FDA announced that it sent warning letters to more than 1,200 tobacco retailers threatening civil penalties against those selling tobacco to kids.