In the State Dining Room at the White House, first lady Michelle Obama rolled out her national initiative to combat childhood obesity Tuesday afternoon with a show of force that included medical, business and government officials, grass-roots activists, celebrity public service announcements, cartoon nutrition experts as well as those most directly affected -- the kids themselves.
Dubbed "Let's Move,"the project kicked off in the morning in the Oval Office, where President Obama signed a formal memorandum that established, for the first time, a national task force -- one that draws from the departments of the Interior, Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Education -- and is charged with turning the first lady's ambitious list of proposals into action.
At its core, the first lady's initiative centers on clearer nutrition information, increased physical activity, better access to healthy foods and, ultimately, personal responsibility. It has bipartisan support, as demonstrated by the presence of two mayors, one a Republican from Hernando, Miss., (population 10,000) and the other a Democrat from Somerville, Mass. (population 77,478). And it purposefully and adamantly steered clear of defining itself as a campaign in favor of foodie proselytizing and against french fries, burgers and cookies.
"This isn't about trying to turn the clock back to when we were kids, or preparing five-course meals from scratch every night. No one has time for that,"the first lady said in her remarks. "And it's not about being 100 percent perfect, 100 percent of the time. Lord knows I'm not. There's a place for cookies and ice cream, burgers and fries -- that's part of the fun of childhood."
Making Moves for a Healthier Generation (The White House blog)
