Michelle Obama praises lower childhood obesity rates in first stop of Let's Move! tour

Michelle Obama on Wednesday brought to her Let's Move! campaign to Mississippi, which has the highest obesity rate in the nation.

She praised the state for its efforts to slash those numbers, noting "Mississippi has seen obesity rates drop 13 percent among elementary school-aged kids. 

"Your schools did hard work.  They replaced their fryers with steamers — hallelujah.  And started serving more fruits and vegetables and whole grains," she said at her stop at the Eastside/Northside Elementary Schools in Clinton, Miss.

She also touted efforts across the nation to combat childhood obesity.

“We’ve seen real, measurable declines in the rates of childhood obesity right here in Mississippi, and in places like Philadelphia, New York City and California. And there is no reason why this success can’t happen in cities and states all across this country, if we’re willing to work for it,” Obama said.

The first lady was in the state for the first day of her multi-stop tour celebrating the third anniversary of Let's Move! She was joined by talk show host Rachael Ray.

After her remarks Obama, wearing a fuchsia and black striped cardigan and flowing black pants, headed to the school cafeteria where children for her waited among red, white and blue balloons, according to the pool report.

Obama and Ray oversaw a cooking competition between two chefs facing off with two school chefs. The results will be show on the March 11th edition of "The Rachael Ray Show."

Obama's next stops on her tour are Springfield, Mo., and her hometown of Chicago.

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First Lady Michelle Obama Praises Change Happening Across the Nation

The White House

Office of the First Lady

From new school lunches to states like Mississippi where the childhood obesity rate is decreasing, Mrs. Obama lauds changes and encourages the nation to keep working for our children’s health

Clinton, MS – As part of the celebration of the third anniversary of Let’s Move!, First Lady Michelle Obama today highlighted change happening across the country to keep our children healthy, from new school lunches nationwide to localities where the childhood obesity rate is declining. Mrs. Obama praised these changes, and called on leaders from across the nation to keep working to improve our children’s health.

            The First Lady joined TV personality and child nutrition advocate Rachael Ray to highlight the new healthy school lunches that are now being served across the nation. Thanks to the bi-partisan Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, championed by Mrs. Obama and Ray, and signed into law by the President in 2010, the 32 million students who eat lunch provided by their school are now seeing more fruits, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free milk varieties, and whole grains; less saturated fat and sodium; and proper portion size on their lunch trays. Mrs. Obama and Rachael Ray hosted a cooking competition between school chefs to highlight the new healthier school lunches, and over the next several weeks, LetsMove.gov will feature school lunch success stories from across the nation.

Mrs. Obama and Rachael Ray chose to highlight school lunches in Mississippi, which was rated the most obese state in the nation for several years, because the state’s childhood obesity rates have declined by 13% among elementary school students in recent years.  According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Mississippi is one of several states and cities to show decreases in childhood obesity, including Philadelphia, New York City and California. Mrs. Obama praised Mississippi’s efforts and called on other states and cities to follow suit.

“We’ve seen real, measurable declines in the rates of childhood obesity right here in Mississippi, and in places like Philadelphia, New York City and California. And there is no reason why this success can’t happen in cities and states all across this country, if we’re willing to work for it,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “So now is truly the time to double down on our efforts. We know what works, we know how to get results, now we just need to step up, and put in the energy, and effort and imagination.”

Growing evidence suggests comprehensive efforts such as making healthy foods available in schools and communities and integrating physical activity into people’s daily lives are making a difference and contributing to these declines.  The Clinton Public School District (CPSD) in Mississippi, where the First Lady visited, is an example of such a comprehensive effort. CPSD mobilized the entire community to make their schools healthier to support their children’s physical wellness and academic achievement. With leadership from the Superintendent, Board of Education, parents, students and community leaders, Clinton made healthy schools a top priority and implemented district-wide changes to bring physical activity and nutritious choices to students – all without additional funding.

In 2008, the Clinton School District performed a district-wide assessment of all aspects of school wellness through school health councils and the child nutrition director for the district. From the assessment, the district formed a plan to provide healthier school environments across the district through coordinated school health programming, which encouraged each school to form a school health council with students, parents, faculty, and community members.

Clinton then implemented a district-wide wellness policy that paved the way for its community to get involved in the effort to build healthier schools.

•          Clinton school cafeterias offer Grab-N-Go lunches in school cafeterias as a healthy, affordable alternative to lunches brought from home.
•          The district held a “Taste of CPSD” healthy recipe contest for students and brought in a professional chef to train child nutrition employees to get kids, parents, and employees excited about cooking and eating healthy foods.
•          Clinton also partnered with the Mississippi Department of Education and the Bower Foundation on the statewide “Move to Learn” campaign with the goal of increasing physical activity in classrooms.

In 2011, a health and wellness goal was added to Clinton Public School District’s strategic plan, making the health and wellness of its students and employees one of the district’s top five strategic plan goals, as important as academic achievement, recruiting and retaining great teachers and providing safe, technology friendly facilities. Today there are a number of programs and activities in place throughout the school district to encourage healthy lifestyle choices. Clinton’s schools were able to increase fruits and vegetables for student meals, ensure that nutrition education was taught in the classroom, and incorporate physical activity throughout the school day.

President Obama is on hand for the unveiling of the new Rosa Parks statue in the U.S. Capitol

February 27, 2013 12:00 PM EST

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President Obama strongly believes we need to replace the arbitrary cuts known as the sequester with balanced deficit reduction, and today he was at a shipyard in Newport News, VA to talk about what failing to do so will mean for middle class families.

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National Security Brief: Former Top U.S. Ambassador Praises Hagel

Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, offered strong praise for former Republican senator Chuck Hagel in a Wall Street Journal op-ed today and endorsed his potential nomination to be the next Defense Secretary. “Chuck Hagel is a statesman, and America has few of them,” said Crocker, “He knows the leaders of the world and their issues. At a time when bipartisanship is hard to find in Washington, he personifies it. Above all, he has an unbending focus on U.S. national security, from his service in Vietnam decades ago to his current position on the Intelligence Advisory Council.” Crocker, along with 8 other former U.S. ambassadors, signed a letter last month calling Hagel an “impeccable choice” for Defense Secretary.

In other news:

The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration has embraced the practice of holding and interrogating terrorism suspects in other countries without due process — also known as rendition.

An influential Afghan warlord told the Daily Telegraph that he fears a decent into chaos and anarchy after NATO troops leave Afghanistan, a similar situation that occurred after the Soviet Union withdrew in the late 1980s.

The AP reports: Clashes between government troops and rebels on Tuesday forced the international airport in Aleppo to stop all flights in and out of Syria’s largest city, while fierce battles also raged in the suburbs of the capital Damascus. Meanwhile, pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian rebels, some from Islamist units, fired machineguns and mortars at helicopters grounded at a northern military air base near the main Aleppo-Damascus highway on Wednesday.

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Obama praises Hagel as a ‘patriot’

President Obama defended former Sen. Chuck Hagel's (R-Neb.) record on Sunday, rebuffing attacks on the potential nominee for Defense secretary.

Asked whether there was anything that easily disqualified Hagel from becoming secretary of Defense, the president said "not that I see."

"I've served with Chuck Hagel.  I know him.  He is a patriot," Obama said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He is somebody who has done extraordinary work both in the United States Senate, somebody who served this country with valor in Vietnam.  And is somebody who's currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job."

Hagel, who is believed to be Obama's top choice to replace Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, has recently received criticism for comments he made 14 years ago in opposition to the nomination of James Hormel, who is gay, to serve as ambassador to Luxemborg. The Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing gay Republicans, recently published a full page ad in The New York Times urging Obama to not nominate Hagel for the Pentagon's top post. 

Critics have also attacked Hagel on his stances on Iran and Israel. Foreign policy hawks say Hagel would not take the necessary steps to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. A number of conservative groups have also questioned Hagel's views on Israel, citing the former senator's comments about the "Jewish lobby" trying to influence legislators. 

Obama added that he has not made a decision yet on whom to nominate to succeed Panetta.

Obama noted, though, that Hagel had apologized for his comments on Hormel. 

"I think it's a testimony to what has been a positive change over the last decade in terms of people's attitudes about gays and lesbians serving our country," Obama added. "And that's something that I'm very proud to have led.  And I think that anybody who serves in my administration understands my attitude and position on those issues."

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