First Lady Michelle Obama brought Let's Move to Regis and Kelly

As part of the first anniversary of the Let’s Move! campaign, First Lady Michelle Obama appeared today on the Today Show and on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Wearing her signature wide belt over a polka dot dress, she chatted with Regis and Kelly about her family and the pleasures of living in the White House.“It’s a nice house for kids,” she quipped when asked about the bowling alley and the swimming pool. But the real message of the moment was an update on the campaign against obesity.

According to Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, since 1980, the number of obese adults has doubled. It has tripled in children. Hispanic, Native American, and black youngers are even more at risk. More than just a project, the Let's Move initiative has partnered with the corporate world to work to eliminate risks. Wal-Mart announced last month that its grocery departments will reduce sugar, sodium, and transfats in its products.

Government is at work to offer information to help consumers also. The Centers for Disease Control website lists“Science Based Strategies,” a body mass calculator for kids and teens, and ways for schools to address obesity, for starters.

It also contains links to the “School Health Policies and Programs Study” and the “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.” Both of these conduct surveys that keep track of social problems and social policies.

The CDC says that obesity is a result of caloric imbalance, that more calories are consumed than are expended. This is affected, though, by genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors. Healthy lifestyles, though, can keep the chance of becoming obese in check.

The results of childhood obesity are far-reaching. According to the CDC website:

• Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
• Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.
• Obese youth are more likely than youth of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

For more about the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign, go to www.letsmove.gov.

For more about childhood obesity, try this:

Childhood Obesity: Address Farms, Factories and Families

Contact Linda at writer14221@yahoo.com

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