First Lady Works to Solve Childhood Obesity

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama and first lady launched a new, ambitious initiative to get kids in shape.
Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. President Obama signed a health care initiative on Tuesday that he hopes will help young American’s live longer.

"We think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of health choices that's often very difficult," said Obama.
But the plan called "Let's Move" is actually being spearheaded by Michelle Obama, with a goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity.

But the first lady says, labels like overweight and obese, don't tell the full story.

"It’s about how our kids feel and it's about how they feel about themselves,” said Mrs. Obama. “It's about the impact that we're seeing that this issue is having on every aspect of their lives."

And for the first time, research suggests that children may not live longer than their parents, a product of poor nutrition and a lack of physical Ben Ranstrom heads a lifestyle education program at Hennepin County Medical Center aimed at overweight and obese children.

“These kids are de-conditioned,” said Ranstrom. “They are so out of shape.”

Kids need only 60 minutes of physical activity, but the average American child doesn't play like his parents used to. Instead, they are spending more than seven hours a day in front of computer, television and video games.

A recent study put the health care costs of obesity-related disease at $147 billion dollars. The first lady's plan includes educating parents on making better choices by focusing on serving healthier foods in school, expanding the president's council on physical fitness and revamping the famous food pyramid.

Within 90 days, the president’s task force on childhood obesity promises to review every single existing policy and program related to child nutrition and physical activity.