Michelle Obama reports shocking statistics about childhood obesity & announces prevention plans

May 12, 4:10 AM · Dr. KC Kelly - Mind and Body Examiner

"To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art." -- La Rochefoucauld
On Tuesday morning, First Lady, Michelle Obama revealed the results of a new Childhood Obesity Task Force report that the president commission released:

• One in three children, ages 2-19 have been reported as being overweight
• Childhood obesity causes 112,000 deaths every year
• Childhood obesity costs approximately 3 billion dollars/year in direct medical costs

Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, who is working with Mrs. Obama's Let's Move Campaign, which was launched in February, was interviewed by a correspondent from MSNBC. Secretary Duncan stated, "We have millions of students every single day eating both breakfast and lunch in schools. We want to make sure those meals become much more healthy and better in terms of nutrition. We want to make sure that the snacks in the vending machines are much more healthy as well. And we have a chance to get dramatically better. When students are healthy, eating right, and when they are exercising, they have a chance to fulfill their tremendous academic potential. This is all of us working together... The Department of Agriculture, The Department of Education, the First Lady, School Districts, the private sector... all of us have to collaborate and do the right thing by our nation's children."

Melanie Barnes, the Chair of the Childhood Obesity Task Force stated that the Force has already asked for help from the president's budget, but has also been working on low-cost or no cost things such as asking the private sector, schools and philanthropies for help. The Task Force wishes to drive down the prices of healthy fresh fruits and vegetables and in addition, help families gain access to these foods through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Lastly, the Task Force is also providing education to parents and caregivers about healthy versus unhealthy foods.

The Task Force goal is to bring the childhood obesity rate from 20% to 5% by 2030.

Michelle Obama reports shocking statistics about childhood obesity & announces prevention plans

Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP