Michelle Obama to unveil anti-obesity initiative

[sabra]

Source: Chicago Trib

WASHINGTON -- Saying childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, first lady Michelle Obama asked the nation's mayors to help her battle an epidemic that could see today's kids lead shorter lives than their parents.

Obama, in prepared remarks for her address this afternoon to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said no matter how much she'd read and thought about the problem of obesity among young people, the pertinent statistics "never fail to take my breath away."

She said nearly one-third of U.S. children now are overweight or obese. She said one-third of today's children eventually will suffer from diabetes, and, in the African American and Latino communities, the proportion will be almost half.

Obesity, she said, "could now be an even greater threat to America's health than smoking." And if the nation stays on its current path, nearly 50 percent of all Americans will be obese in 10 years -- "not just overweight, but obese."

"This isn't the kind of problem that can be solved in one year, or even one administration," according to Obama, who is expected to unveil an anti-obesity initiative next month. "But make no mistake about it, this problem can be solved."

Read more: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/01/first-lady-michelle-obama-childhood-obesity-conference-of-mayors.html

[Lance_Boyle]

1. This news will be the *only* thing to ever stick in the craw

of the "fat acceptance" folks. Why does our first lady hate fat people? :sarcasm:

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tonysam]

35. Prejudice against size is an attitude problem

Obviously "obesity" is a problem with yours.

[Lance_Boyle]

47. Obesity is a health problem

regardless of anyone's "fat and happy" attitude about it.

[Scout]

48. no, it's not necessarily. it depends on the individual.

and i know lots of non-obese people who are not very healthy.

is anyone "monitoring" what they eat and do?

[Zoeisright]

61. Wow.

Thanks for helping me update my ignore list.

You need to look at yourself in the mirror. And I don't mean the outside. Some people are ugly on the inside.

[Socal31]

66. Agreed.

Obesity is a major problem, and the people who are trying to gain acceptance for it are not helping.

[shawcomm]

3. We need to crack down on corn syrup as an additive

But that means going to battle with ADM, and ADM owns a good percentage of Congress.

Oh, and kudos to our beautiful First Lady.

[CountAllVotes]

27. you are so right about that

I was recently in the hospital for 2 weeks. The food was inedible. They gave me a tray full of "edible" food. I remember lying in bed an reading the contents on the labels.

I threw every item as a game into the trash can across the room.

This included:

The package of mayonnaise
The package of ketsup
The healthy Yoplait yogurt (filled with calcium & other "healthy" things).
A package muffin.

All of the items I tossed in garbage can in the room contained high fructose corn syrup.

The lady in the bed next to me was a diabetic and was being given a similar batch of junk to eat. She was quite overweight besides. And these fools wonder why people are overweight and diabetic?

I could/should right a whole book about my recent hospital stay, that is how disgusting it was.

Unbelievable!

I strongly hate fat bashers. Michelle Obama has never been "fat" and her girls/husband seem to have thin genes.

Much of it is hereditary and there isn't a lot many people can do about weight.

My god mother lived to be 101 years old. She was an expert baker and cook and she weighed 250 lbs. easily I'd suspect.

Boohoo on you Michelle Obama. I hope you never gain weight! :puke:

:dem:

[CTyankee]

28. I think you are being unfair to Michelle. She is trying to help.

Obesity causes so many health problems and holds so many people back from leading more productive and happier lives. I don't know anybody who wants a life that is not happy and productive. Are you just giving up on people who could benefit from anti-obesity programs? Why not wish the First Lady well?

[tonysam]

36. What a joke

Maybe some people need an attitude adjustment towards people who are different.

[shawcomm]

38. What do you mean?

I think it's great that the First Lady is bringing to light our problem, especially that of children. My post supports her, while condemning the stupid corn syrup lobby. I don't think she's attacking heavy people, but the source of the problem. I'm overweight a bit, and I fully realize that it was due to much of the junk that is sold under the guise of "food". More kids, and their parents, need to be taught about the dangers of our calorie-laden, nutrition-lacking crap.

And yeah, some people are prone to being heavier. But the sorry excuse for food that's manufactured as if its plastics or oil products needs to be shown for what it is, a health danger. The food certainly isn't helping those with a tendency to be heavy, like me. Lot of additives to food are harmful, but I think corn syrup has been the worst.

[glowing]

4. It would help if HFCS wasn't added to everything. It would help if families had time

to cook/ prepare nutritious food. It would help if people had the money to buy fresh fruits and veggies. Hamburger helper and craft mac n' cheese is cheap and full of carbs. Free range, organic chicken breast, two veggies, glass of milk, and a grain is much harder to put on the table... and normally takes more time. I've noticed that less and less people know how to actually cook other than to put a lean cuisine into a microwave.

[paulsby]

13. there are plenty of choices w/o HFCS

even in the hood, where i have worked for over a decade, and lived for some time.

i agree that it's partly an education thang (people don't know how to cook)

and partly a laziness thang.

i go the store and SEE what people buy. it's disgusting. over-processed, nutrient void crap.

and show me EVIDENCE (e.g. peer reviewed studies) that this is an issue that would be helped by ORGANIC chicken breast.

[glowing]

42. The biggest stressor on a family is time. AND statistically, there are more

single-mom households than ever. Two adults running around their 2 or 3 jobs is hard enough.. but a single mom household suffers more. Less money and 1 adult always ON. Kids come home after school and the computer/ t.v/ game system is the baby sitter. And kids home alone are not normally allowed to cook.. microwave ok. Yes, people make poor decsions on their health and/ or food, however, time is the greatest need for families today (along with one job that pays the bills comfortably by 1 adult), access to real health care, and food that isn't going to intentionally cause health risks.

[Thothmes]

44. It would also help to turn the TV off. put the game boy down

and get some real exercise.

[HughBeaumont]

64. "It would help if families had time"

That's the one phrase we ALL could use in every aspect of our lives.

Too much time is ALWAYS devoted to the bean counters and their needs, but families, friends, yourself? Sorry, Charlie. This profit isn't going to make itself, we just cut back, be happy you have a job, etc, etc.

Free time just doesn't exist any more.

[Scout]

5. are they going to put recess and gym class back in the schools?

are they going to take out the pop machines and the junk food machines?

[lbrtbell]

6. Recess, yes. Gym class, no

Gym class makes kids hate exercise because it's boring, it's too hard for many kids who aren't born well-coordinated, and it's graded by unfair teachers/coaches.

Crappy food has been around for decades. Kids started getting obese when adults started trying to control their play (= P.E.), and when TV and computers distracted them from their natural instinct to play.

Let kids get out and PLAY, which is nature's best exercise. Just pull them away from the TV or the computer, give them some outdoor toys, and let them do what comes naturally. :-)

[bigworld]

8. I like the cut of your jib, lbrtbell

My boy goes to a Waldorf School, and in the early grades they are all about the play.

[Arctic Dave]

9. "Gym class makes kids hate exercise because it's boring"

We used to go hiking, skiing and swimming in gym, how is that boring?

[Kulshan]

10. Boring?

I went to 17 different schools. My children went to 5 different schools. PE was worse than boring. It was often excruciating for newbies or student in the out-groups. Never any swimming unless you joined a team. Never any hiking. And most definitely NO Skiing! You were lucky. Most aren't.

[Arctic Dave]

14. Was it any worse then your academics or was gym class your only problem?

[Kulshan]

21. Problems? Grades?

I personally didn't have a problem with even gym classes. In fact I was very good in basket-ball and was often made an example of...I was tiny but fast. I made very good grades except for a short while in jr. high. I was an observer even then, though, and have seen how difficult it is for the shy and others who are different to fit in. PE was usually about who was acceptable and who was not. It discouraged many from getting exercise and it also helped to stratify the student body.

[laundry_queen]

33. This line is worth repeating:

PE was usually about who was acceptable and who was not.

That's how it was in our school too. And as we got older, the gym teachers got meaner. A note from a parent on a sprained ankle wasn't enough - you needed a doctor's note. Learning a new sport meant hours of learning 'rules' and running lines. We had fitness testing that was near impossible to get higher than a C on.

I think it's imperative that schools find a way to make fitness fun. I know when we did things like swimming, we got exercise and had a lot of fun. They need to do more stuff like that.

[tilsammans]

65. IMHO, there should be two PE choices for students . . .

. . . one geared to those who prefer competitive sports, and one that promotes fitness through exercise.

That way, all students become fit, and there's less of the I-always-get-picked-last trauma.

[CTyankee]

29. Back in the 50s my poor husband had to endure swimming classes held in the NUDE

and in really cold water in his public high school in Sheboygan, WI. He says at least the girls got to wear bathing suits, icky as his sister says they were!

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

26. Lets run down the activitives I had in gym class,

Running in circles around the football field,
Running in circles around the baseball field,
Running in circles around the basketball courts,
Running in circles around the tennis courts that didn't have nets,

To actually participate in any of the above activities for which the surface was intended you had to try-out and make a team,

[dflprincess]

41. When I was in school

(back about the time humans began to walk upright) gym class was boring and awful. Mostly we'd stand around waiting our turn to try something - the worse being gymnastics for those of us who were complete klutzes and then we'd get graded on it! - Gym kept me from being a straigh A student more than one term (math occassionaly helped bring my GPA down as well).

It would make sense if the gym period were spent on aerobics or weights, but I agree that kids get a lot more excercise at recess than they get in gym class.

[tabbycat31]

45. ous was always team sports

and half the class was spent picking teams. I was always picked last.

And it was hardly exercise when you're playing softball and you spend more than half your time lining up waiting for your at bat.

[shawcomm]

40. Gym was usually run by some right wing

idiot coach who had fun watching the weaker kids get ganged up on by the "in" crowd. Holy hell, it was basically Lord of The Flies in some of those schools. Unless you scared off some of those fucks early on in school life, it was hell for some of those kids. Fortunately, after one particular incident with a "prep" kid, he and every other one left me alone.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. I agree-- gym class sucked

From our first indoctrination in 7th grade by a coach who threatened to "bust our naked butts" with his paddle if we got out of line, to the P.E. teacher who never showed up for lessons, to the bad-ass coach who was also a bad-ass study hall teacher, PE totally sucked. But minimally supervised recess in elementary school was fun.

[rebecca_herman]

53. I agree

Gym class was HELL for me. I am not athletic. I would happily run around playing on the swingset outside etc but I just plain suck at sports or coordinated athletics and find them excrutiatingly boring as well. Not to mention the evil gym teacher who forced us to run on the track outside in winter temperatures. My mother had to fight the school so hard to get them to allow me to wear a freaking jacket because coats weren't allowed in the gym uniform but my body just couldn't handle the cold temperatures without a jacket (I am a person who gets cold extremely easily and has to wear excessive layers in the winter to not feel like an icicle). Every year forced to climb ropes most of the kids were doomed to fail at, etc. I got a medical excuse to excuse me finally when I was in middle school... I still remember the relief I felt, years later. I still can not stand to specifically exercise years later and I blame a lot of it on that.

[marshall]

34. Only if they start grading schools on the size of their students

Gym and recess fell by the wayside because of the importance of the almighty state mandated achievement tests. The fate of schools and teachers and administrators alike depend on the results. Whether the children were healthy or obese was not relevant.

[Scout]

46. gee, my public school must have been unusual....

we had gym classes for Lifetime Sports (tennis, bowling, golf), there were several varieties of dance class, physical fitness class (where, yes, you ran laps and did calisthenics), there were swimming classes, there were traditional gym classes too.

what's offered depends on the school and the instructor, like all other subjects. it doesn't have to be just drudgery.

and kids in school are going to be treated like crap by other kids and some teachers whether it's in gym or history ... solve that problem, but don't do it by eliminating gym, 'cuz that won't help.

[bergie321]

7. Simple Solution

Stop the massive subsidies of corn. Corn is in 70% of the food in supermarkets. We feed corn to cows to fatten them up faster for slaughter. Why do we not assume it has the same effect on us?

Eat Real Food.

[CTyankee]

31. Many people also need "food literacy" so they can plan healthful meals.

If you don't know a carb from a fat or a protein then you can't make good decisions about your health...

[Mari333]

11. the corporate sponsors/lobbyists who own the WH will never allow

anything more to get off the ground then 'talk.'

[JDPriestly]

12. I'm far from fat, but this is an awful idea.

I'm sure she doesn't mean it this way, but just using the word obese makes Michelle OBama sound like the national nagging mom.

Obesity is the result of a food addiction. Nagging will not help.

Calling people obese even if it is true is far too negative. It is the language of defeat. A lot of people are obese because they are depressed. Reminding them of their obesity does not relieve their depression. Encouraging group activities and movement do.

It would be great if Michelle Obama led a campaign that was positive or jovial such as encouraging community walks. This could be organized with the cooperation of churches, schools and senior citizen groups.

A lot of people are afraid to walk alone. So, a lot could be done to encourage group activities that don't cost money and get people active.

[Kali]

15. it is a proper medical term

it may have negative connotations but it is a real objective term

[nini]

16. it's the correct term to use and she's right

especially with kids who are at the mercy of their parents when developing eating habits.

Education about nutrition and exercise are not evil things.

[CTyankee]

30. I'm sure exercise is part of her plan. I like what she is doing. It's not

"nagging." She wants to help with a national problem. I think it is a cold attitude indeed to say that people who suffer from obesity can't do anything about it and just have to suffer. And besides, all of us could change a few things in our lives to make us healthier...

[tonysam]

37. Food fascism is a moronic concept by morons for morons

I am not surprised Michelle is so wrongheaded about this. Her husband is wrongheaded about public education and many other issues.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. Now we have to worry about feelings?

If indirectly offending someone by stating a fact so that they can gain the opportunity for a healthier, longer life is all it takes, I say go for it.

[Codeine]

49. Community walks

are not going to cause anyone to lose weight. Proper diet, portion control, and vigorous exercise will.

[Jefferson23]

17. I wish her good luck with this, a serious concern for our youth indeed.

I hope she includes the facts about diet soda being a contributor to the problem, not a reliable source for losing weight.

[Generator]

18. Bill Maher will love this

He hates faties and thinks everything health related is because of the food you eat.

Blame the sick people again. Not saying Michelle is saying this but that's Maher's message. Eat all organic, eat no fat, and never get cancer. The logic that follows is if you don't eat organic and you do eat fat then you are to blame for your cancer.

I hate this thinking. And I hate food nazi's. That said, I can't understand how parents let their kids get extremely overweight. Screw the health-the heartbreak is much worse. I went through it as a teenager myself. Who buys the food? YES, fast food is cheaper sometimes. But you still can limit quantity and make sure they get excerise.

Children live YOUR life, as parents, you are the boss. I do not eat things around my children that I do not want them to eat. You control the food and the activities, not the other way around.

[Alias Dictus Tyrant]

25. I only eat free-range vegetables

I only eat free-range vegetables that commit suicide of their own free will.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

19. Good idea.

[ConcernedCanuk]

20. You'd hafta shut down McDonalds. KFC, and all them other fast food places.

.
.
.

Teach people how to cook REAL food, make healthy lunches, get the kids off their computers and Wii toys and play outside . . .

and so on . .

Good luck Michelle - honorable goal, but FNI

(sigh)

[Codeine]

50. You can still eat all that stuff,

just not in the repulsive quantities that most people ram down their throats with both greasy hands.

[shanti]

69. exactly

people DO have a choice about what they put into their mouths and the amount of exercise they take (talking from the viewpoint of one who was just diagnosed with diabetes at 54). it's just unfortunate that it took that much to jolt me into awareness :(

i'm working on my kids now, grown as they are.

obesity (a medical - not pejorative - term meaning a BMI of more than 30%) is definitely an epidemic.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. good!

[Jefferson23]

23. The First Lady could do some good for Haiti at the same time she

helps fight obesity.


Wednesday, Jan 20, 2010 19:40 EST

The Haiti high fructose corn syrup connection

The troubled nation was once a major sugar exporter. It could be again, for its own benefit and American waistlines

By Andrew Leonard

Economist Tyler Cowen suggests that one way to help Haiti would be to "repeal tariffs on Haitian sugar." I'm guessing he doesn't expect this to be a short-term aid, because right now, under the crazy system of sugar import quotas employed by the United States to keep domestic sugar prices high, Haiti is actually permitted to export 7,258 metric tons of sugar to the U.S. every year. Except that, as of November 2009, according to data from the USDA, Haiti had exported exactly zero tons of sugar to the United States for the entire year. In fact, at numerous points over the last 30 years Haiti has been forced to import sugar.

Still, sugarcane is one of Haiti's few domestic cash crops, and the Dominican Republic, which shares the same island, is a huge sugar producer, enjoying the largest sugar quota granted any country in the world by the United States -- 20 times the size of Haiti's. So in principle Haiti could and should be a significant sugar exporter. Indeed, Michael Roberts wonders if disastrous economic disparity between the Dominican Republic and Haiti might be connected to the huge inequality in sugar quotas granted the two nations.

As Roberts suspected, that answer is hard to determine. The tribulations of Haiti's sugar industry -- which date all the way back to Christopher Columbus -- are embedded in a history of government mismanagement, foreign interference, and uneconomic farming practices that are challenging to untangle. But certainly, the U.S. habit of using sugar quotas as a foreign policy tool to reward or punish its trading partners hasn't helped.

The U.S. policy of subsidizing a few domestic sugar producers by artificially keeping local prices high is a crime against some of the poorest countries in the world. Even worse, the artificially high price of sugar in the United States is one of the forces that has encouraged U.S. food producers to substitute low priced corn-derived high fructose corn syrup for sugar in a vast array of processed foods.

Get rid of the sugar quota! Not just for Haiti, but for our own health.


http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2010/01/20/haiti_and_high_fructose_corn_syrup

[Raejeanowl]

24. Oh, Dear

I hope she is prepared to take on the school systems, the fast food industry, and the high fructose corn syrup producers, then. Because otherwise all she will be doing is stigmatizing the kids and falsely accusing parents of abusing or neglecting their kids.

So, good luck with that!

[CTyankee]

32. Why do you leap to such an extreme conclusion?

What gives you the idea that Michelle Obama is that mean spirited to do such things?

Teaching people about healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle is disease prevention. And I don't think she is going to NOT take on those special interests. There are plenty of parent groups all over this country who are trying hard to get the unhealthy food out of the schools. And who is to say that she WON'T take on the hfc syrup producers, by asking parents to read the labels on the foods they buy and choosing products that have no hfcs. I have noticed some national brands advertising that they have NO hfcs on their packaging. If more people learn about the dangers of hfcs and a public campaign can get underway, we could reduce some of causes of obesity. Michelle is an ideal spokesperson to head this effort up.

As a grandmother of 4 grandchildren, I approve of what Michelle is doing!

[Codeine]

51. Obese chldren are being abused

and neglected. You are responsible for your child's health and well-being. Parents are dropping the ball bigtime.

[JCMach1]

52. That's going to go over well from a tall thin lady!

NOT

[Codeine]

54. Michelle Obama is hardly a "thin" lady.

And since when does somebody have to be fat to be concerned about obesity? The impact of so many grossly overweight people hitting middle age is going to be devastating to our health care system.

[BlueIris]

55. Man, I love the First Lady.

Does Ms. Obama want to be President next? Here's hoping.

[midnight]

56. I believe the bottom line is to improve health..... She should make nutrition

and not size the focus...

[DonkeyHoTay]

57. Nutrition or Food for the Homeless - YES! Fatbusting - NO!

What a PR-Disaster-DIY this will be.  Who dreamed up this
unseemly agenda for the First Lady?  Not only does it lack
"gravitas" and dignity, but it will also make her
the butt (pun intended) of some rather cruel jokes.

[midnight]

58. Let's hope this gets re framed and more emphasis on making nutritious meals

affordable and available to all income levels

[gblady]

60. "fat busting" is very much needed......

in our country....our childhood obesity rate is skyrocketing.
...and our society, in spite of information that is readily available,
simply does not take the issue seriously.

Having serious corinary artery disease brought on by years of being obese and not exercising....
let me tell you how much I wish I would have paid closer attention sooner.

Now that I have lost 75 lbs, exercise daily and eat like a saint...
I still wound up in the hospital last week with another 95% occluded heart vessel.
this after having a massive MI two years ago.

Heart disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in our society...
and it's primarily a lifestyle choice condition....some genetics, but mainly lifestyle.

Teach those children young and teach them well.
It truly can help save their lives.

[dugaresa]

59. To a degree this is an issue tied to mental health and to get that help you need insurance

disorders like depression can lead to overeating and that leads to obseity. This occurs even in children.

[Tx4obama]

62. Sarah Palin has already come out AGAINST it in her FB page article...

From Palin's FB page:

Freedom, Influence, Security Shrink as Budget Balloons
The White House recently announced its pricey Childhood Obesity Initiative to tell us what we should feed our kids. Helpful I’m sure – but most Americans would rather see government focus on other important areas right now. We know what our kids should eat: more healthy food, less junk food. There – we just saved Washington a ton of money by announcing that finding on personal responsibility.
Read more here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/freedom-influence-security-shrink-as-budget-balloons/280109673434
-----------------------------------

Good lord I cannot express in words I much I DISLIKE that woman!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

63. They don't ever mention endocrine problems, like thyroid and diabetes.

Preadolescent girls can get hypothyroidism, often.

Recent video from the Today show about a woman told she "was just fat, fat, fat" and "needed an antidepressant" when her thyroid was DEAD:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35124268#35124268

Autoimmune disorders are quite common. 30 to 40 million people in the US have either a high or low thyroid problem, mostly women. Autoimmune disorders are increasing because of toxins in the environment.

I got yelled at constantly to eat, as a child, because the bossy bitchy grandma who cooked all the time was afraid I would starve to death. I wasn't fat then, but my thyroid stopped working when I was in junior high. Then later I got warned about getting fat. At the same time being picked on for being a picky eater. I refused to eat the crap she cooked. I also had food allergies to tomatoes and peppers, and refused to eat those.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the main cause of low/dead thyroid, often strikes young preadolescent girls. It happened to me, and it happened to my mother before me decades ago. We were both put on Armour thyroid and I still take it (NOT THE SYNTHETIC STUFF THE DOCTORS PUSH).

I came home from school every day at 4:15 and crashed into bed for a nap for three hours. Teenagers aren't supposed to be that way. I slept 12 hours on weekends.



:wtf:

[Socal31]

67. The fact that this even stirs debate is scary.

As more and more Americans become obese, they will feel the need to rationalize their unhealthy habits, and attack those who realize the true costs of gluttony.

Obviously if you are disabled and have gained weight because of it, or have another medical problem, this is not targeted at you.

[BlueIris]

68. Man, I love our First Lady. nt