There is no doubt that the first lady, Michelle Obama, is on to something extremely important for the country. There is no more significant issue... on all fronts... than obesity and all of the negative implications that are associated. It is almost as much a national security issue as a health issue as a psychological well being issue as much as a economic issue. It is the center of the spoke of a wheel of problems.
I commend the first lady for her wisdom, energy, and intelligence to create such a movement. I will not call it a program... this is a movement!
And i can not wait to join the ranks and help as much as i can!
fred
SLIDELL, La. — Declaring the beginning of the “next phase” of a program to combat childhood obesity, the first lady, Michelle Obama, called on Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation that would make many of the program’s initiatives possible.
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In a speech at an elementary school here, Mrs. Obama ticked off the main points of her “Let’s Move!” campaign: encouraging children to exercise, providing more free and reduced-price school meals and making the food in schools more nutritious. Explicitly tying school nutrition to academic performance, she pledged to expand the program on all these points.
But Mrs. Obama, who has typically not waded into Congressional debates, emphasized that achieving much of this was dependent on federal lawmakers.
“It’s important to be clear,” she said, “that we can’t do any of this unless we pass the Child Nutrition legislation that’s before Congress right now.”
Under the act, food sold in schools would have to meet new nutrition guidelines, but schools would get an increased amount of federal reimbursement money for meals. It would also expand the number of poorer students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals.
In early August, on the eve of the act’s passage in the Senate, Mrs. Obama wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post encouraging lawmakers to vote yes, which they did, unanimously.
The bill is now expected to be on the agenda this month in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers have been working on a version that would add new elements, and more financing, to the $4.5 billion version that passed in the Senate.
“Congress is very close to getting this done but still there are a number of barriers,” said Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group that provided input to the White House in the creation of a plan to address childhood obesity.
“This would be a historic change to the programs,” Ms. Wootan said. “I’m agonizing daily about it.”
Mrs. Obama delivered her speech at an elementary school here that is one of 25 in the district — out of only 59 in the country — that have received $2,000 cash awards from the United States Department of Agriculture for promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
It also sits just over the state line from Mississippi, which has the highest rate of childhood obesity in the country.
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