Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiative, Let’s Move, has kicked into high gear. The Presidential Task Force on Childhood Obesity released a landmark report documenting the scale of the problem, complete with a list of 70 recommendations and a set of benchmarks, including the goal of returning the childhood obesity rate to its 1972 level of 5% by 2030. And this week came the announcement that a new industry partnership called the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, which includes most of the major food companies, agreed to reduce the number of calories in its members’ products by 1.5 trillion calories by 2015.

It would be churlish of me to downplay the significance of either the report or the industry announcement. As nutritionist Marion Nestle observed, whatever skepticism one may rightly have regarding industry self-regulation, the fact that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — whose public health credentials in general and anti-obesity efforts in particular are beyond reproach — will be auditing the calorie-cutting plan should keep industry shenanigans to a minimum.

But what will a 1.5-trillion calorie cut look like? In an article that helpfully explains how companies might go about reaching their goal — lower-calorie Lunchables! Smaller Kraft Cheese slices! — former food industry executive Hank Cardello puts the cuts into context:

 …[T]his is a drop in the bucket and represents only a 0.5 percent reduction in the 300 trillion calories available for Americans to consume each year. That translates to less than 1.5 pounds of added weight per person. Hardly enough to resolve an obesity crisis.

That context was left of out of the comments by David Mackay, chair of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, at the White House announcement. But he did express his deep pleasure that the concept of “calories in/calories out” is a foundational concept of the White House childhood obesity initiative.

“Calories in/calories out” refers to the idea that balancing consumption with exercise is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. It also happens to be the industry mantra, since it mostly leaves industry off the hook. It becomes an individual’s responsibility to count calories and get enough exercise. Industry can offer a helping hand with programs like this one, but on the whole can be left to its own devices.

And certainly, industry desperate wants to be left along. As Kelly Brownell, head of the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity said to the Washington Post’s Jane Black: “My guess is that they were going to do this anyway… The hidden motive here is to convince government to back off and not regulate the industry.”

The question then becomes if these impressive-sounding but small-bore industry initiatives will make up for an apparent lack of political will from the Obama administration to force government to do its part. The Task Force report is full of things the government should do, but has only a handful of things it will do.