Feb. 10--WASHINGTON -- First lady Michelle Obama kicked off a sweeping campaign Tuesday against an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Joining his wife in the announcement of "Let's Move," President Barack Obama created a task force that is to review current policies on child nutrition and physical activity and come up with a national plan to maximize federal resources.
But the campaign is clearly being led by the first lady, the mother of two young daughters who last year ran barefoot across the White House lawn at an event to encourage children to exercise more.
"This isn't like a disease where we're still waiting for the cure to be discovered. We know the cure for this," she said.
"This isn't like putting a man on the moon or inventing the Internet. It doesn't take some stroke of genius or feat of technology."
Instead, the first lady stressed smaller steps that could help parents and others make better decisions for children.
She also talked about her own family.
"In my home, we weren't rich. The foods we ate weren't fancy," she said. "But there was always a vegetable on the plate, and we managed to lead a pretty healthy life."
Obama also recalled that as a working mother she sometimes took the quick way out, going to a drive-through.
Her program covers much more than encouraging kids to eat less fast food and exercise more.
It also includes efforts by the private sector to move to consumer-friendly labeling, a major public relations campaign by media companies, a revamped food pyramid at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $10 billion over a decade to improve the quality of school lunches.
Landon Norton, nutrition coordinator for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, cited statistics that show 30 percent of the state's children carry more weight than they should.
Still, Norton said recent data indicate the trend is improving.
"Our children's obesity rates seem to be, hopefully, leveling off," he said, adding that trend occurred in Oklahoma while rates in other states continued to rise.
Jim Myers (202) 484-1424 jim.myers@tulsaworld.com
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