Michelle Obama takes childhood obesity fight to mayors
WASHINGTON—First lady Michelle Obama, who is ratcheting up her campaign against childhood obesity, will ask the country’s mayors Wednesday to join her fight to get kids fit.
Obama, who said last week that she hopes to make combating childhood obesity her legacy, will address the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is holding meetings here through Friday.
The address comes before the launch of a major policy initiative, her aides said.
About 220 mayors, including Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, are expected to attend, said conference spokeswoman Elena Temple.
Obama plans to discuss the impact of childhood obesity and the role played by mayors in developing “comprehensive solutions,” her aides said. Last week she pointed to a new study showing nearly 32 percent of U.S. children are overweight or obese, a figure that rises among blacks and Hispanics. She touched on the topic when meeting with reporters on the eve of her second year in the White House.
Extra weight increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and other ailments. Obama said for children in late adolescence, obesity is as hazardous as heavy smoking.
The new effort will highlight nutrition, fitness, making healthy foods accessible and affordable, and arming parents with information.
Obama said efforts such as the White House vegetable garden offer a good way to begin the conversation about nutrition in a non-threatening way, saying “already overstressed, anxious parents” shouldn’t feel more guilty trying to ensure kids eat right and exercise.
Her chief of staff, Susan Sher, said the stepped-up campaign will represent the first time Obama takes the lead in an administration-wide initiative. “She’s hoping that in the next generation, we as a nation can solve the childhood obesity problem,” Sher said.
For many months, White House officials have examined how to reduce childhood obesity with officials from the Agriculture and Education departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other entities. The first lady noted that she wants businesses, foundations and non-profit groups as partners in the effort.
The new initiative comes as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, which pays for free or reduced-price lunches and breakfasts for school children. According to Obama, the reauthorization of the act, which congressional aides said is set to expire at the end of September, is an opportunity to significantly change the way millions of young people eat.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Congress in November that 31 million children in more than 100,000 schools receive subsidized lunches and about 11 million children in more than 88,000 schools were fed subsidized breakfasts.
He said nutritional standards for school meals should be improved and national standards created for all food sold in schools, including vending-machine fare.
Vilsack said children eat too little fruit, too few whole grains, too few dark green and dark orange vegetables and too many high-fat dairy products. He cited a report indicating the average child between age 5 and 8 consumed about 720 empty, discretionary calories a day, nearly half their 1,600-calorie intake.
Other Illinois mayors expected at the conference: Arlene J. Mulder of Arlington Heights; Michael Kelly of Bartlett; Elizabeth Tisdahl of Evanston; George Gaulrapp of Freeport; William McLeod of Hoffman Estates; Chris Koos of Normal; Leon Rockingham Jr. of North Chicago; Dave Heilmann of Oak Lawn; David Pope of Oak Park; Timothy Davlin of Springfield; and Laurel Prussing of Urbana, Temple said.
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