The role of first lady is whatever she wants to make of it. Some prefer to stay pretty much invisible, while others like to take proactive roles with issues they are passionate about.
One of Michelle Obama‘s passions in the first year of her husband’s term is promoting healthy eating… something that has become a sort of national emergency. Now she’s concentrating on childhood obesity.
“Nearly a third of all children in this country are overweight or obese… and a third will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lifetimes,” Mrs. Obama said in a speech at the Department of Health and Human Services.
“It is a major public health threat right now, so just imagine what we’re going to be facing in 20 or 30 years if we don’t get on this issue.”
Mrs. Obama went over some of the public issues associated with the obesity epidemic that includes our children:
- Long work hours for parents
- Dirty or unsafe neighborhood playgrounds
- Unhealthy take-out food
Besides expressing how she could relate, that before her White House days she sometimes struggled with food choices for her kids, she warned the audience about the dangers associated with childhood obesity should the rates continue to rise.
“What does it mean that medical experts are now warning that for the first time in the history of our nation, the next generation may be on track to having a shorter lifespan than this generation, and their parents?” she asked the crowd. “None of us wants a future like that for our children.”
(via: CBSNews.com)