Declaring herself "first mom," Michelle Obama got right to work on the defining issues of her children's generation: obesity and improving the health of America's kids.
Her Let's Move campaign put obesity in the headlines in part because Americans under 25 are the first generation expected to live shorter lives than their parents because of diet-related illnesses. But Obama, 47, urged people to get up and do something.
She convinced her husband to establish America's first Childhood Obesity Task Force. She planted a teaching garden at the White House and reminded Americans that to know their farmers is to know their food. She enlisted the country's leading chefs to work with local schools and start cooking; at last count there were more than 1,000 such partnerships.
She's encouraging mayors around the country to embrace obesity-prevention programs. And perhaps most incredibly, she's had frank and challenging dialogues with some of America's largest corporations and persuaded them to change their business practices for the sake of the children.
While she knows none of these changes are easy, she's stood firm in her conviction that if we all just eat better and move more, then we can fight obesity. For her inspirational work, I salute First Lady Michelle Obama — a true revolutionary.
First lady Michelle Obama warned in remarks that the nation is seeing “a groundswell of support” for curbing childhood obesity, and she is unveiling new ammunition from current and retired military leaders.
“Military leaders … tell us that when more than one in four young people are unqualified for military service because of their weight,” the first lady said in prepared remarks, “childhood obesity isn’t just a public health threat, it’s not just an economic threat, it’s a national security threat as well."
“We can all agree that here in the wealthiest nation on earth, all children should have the basic nutrition they need to learn and grow and pursue their dreams. Because in the end, nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children, ... and our hopes for their future should drive every decision we make. These are the basic values that we all share. They’re the values that this bill embodies. And that’s why we’ve seen such a groundswell of support for these efforts — not just from members of Congress here in Washington but from folks in every corner of the country.
“From educators working to provide healthier school meals, because they know the connection between proper nutrition and academic performance. From doctors and nurses who know that unhealthy kids grow into unhealthy adults — at risk for obesity-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. From business and labor leaders who know that we spend nearly $150 billion a year to treat these diseases and worry about the impact on our economy. From advocates and faith leaders who know that school meals are vital for combating child hunger, feeding more than 31 million children a day.
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