Michael Bloomberg has quickly emerged as one the nation’s leading public health advocates, using his role as mayor not only to improve the health of New Yorkers, but also to show how determined municipal leadership can help create healthier communities.

During his tenure as major, Michael Bloomberg has implemented a wide variety of creative, groundbreaking policies designed to increase access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity throughout the city, particularly in lower-income areas. Many of these visionary approaches have served as models for other communities nationwide.

For Dr. Robert Cluck, childhood obesity is a deeply personal and professional issue. Before he was mayor of Arlington, Texas, he was an obstetrician-gynecologist for 28 years, and as the Vice President for Medical Affairs at Arlington Memorial Hospital, he continues to manage other doctors. Cluck knows first hand that obesity can have a devastating impact on children as they grow older. "It's frustrating particularly because I am a doctor," he says about his struggle to highlight the dangers of obesity. "I just know what the outcomes are, and they are not good."

First elected in November of 2003, Mayor Joseph Curtatone began his third term as mayor of Somerville on January 7, 2008. He had previously served for eight years as an alderman at large.

Thirty-eight-years old at the time of his first election, Curtatone is the second youngest mayor in Somerville’s history. Under his leadership, Somerville has earned national recognition for its successful joint effort with Tufts University to implement Shape Up Somerville, an effective program to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity among the city’s elementary school children. His success in Somerville has earned him the presidency of the Massachusetts Mayor’s Association, a position on the board of directors for the National League of Cities, and as a member of the Metropolitan Mayors Association.