Michelle Obama launches schools push on obesity
US: First Lady Michelle Obama took her campaign against childhood
obesity to a new level Thursday with a $150 million programme to
encourage more physical activity in American schools.
Let's Move! Active Schools builds upon the Let's Move! initiative
that the mother-of-two and wife of Barack Obama unveiled three years ago
during the president's first term in the White House.
“Only one in three of our kids is active every day,” said the first
lady in Chicago, the Obama family's hometown.
“That's not just bad for their bodies. It's also bad for their minds,
because being less active can actually hurt kids' academic performance.”
Funded by a public-private partnership, Let's Move! Active Schools aims
within five years to get 50,000 schools across the United States to
provide at least one hour of physical activity per day to their
youngsters.
Excessive weight is a major public health issue in the United States,
where two in three adults -- and one in three children -- are either
overweight or obese, officials say.
AFP |