‘It’s Done, Honey’: Obama Signs Memorandum on Childhood Obesity

Does this include a personal pledge by Barack and Michelle to stop disclosing personal information about THEIR OWN children?? (i.e., grades and weight problems)

Did Michelle hold up her children to ridicule, call them fat again? These kids self esteem must be at an all time low

Since when is it a bad thing to reduce Type 2 Diabetes? You people who are complaining simply want America to fail during this administration. All Mrs. Obama is doing is calling attention to a problem in our youth. What is wrong with that? You don’t have an arguement so go outside and run off some of your built up hatred and anger.

James Danley, I agree completely. Parents are bombarded on all sides to get their children active, but the very place children spend most of their non-sleeping hours barely squeezes in a 10-minute recess or two for the youngest while the older children get nothing.
Children and young people need exercise along with class-time.

Since when is it a bad thing to reduce Type 2 Diabetes? You people who are complaining simply want America to fail during this administration. All Mrs. Obama is doing is calling attention to a problem in our youth. What is wrong with that? You don’t have an arguement so go outside and run off some of your built up hatred and anger. posted by Brandon
———————–
You are aware that one of the key factors to keep Type 2 or Type Diabetes under control is exercise. Eating the right foods and no exercise will do nothing to fight diabetes.

Simple question — how much of OUR money, taxpayer money, is going to support Michelle’s Obama’s causes? and yes — I would complain no matter which party was in power. The amount of money that goes to the first lady’s office is obscene. She was not elected, her husband was. This is all about Michelle Obama’s ego, and choosing a “cause” she thinks will be popular.
I say, beginning with the 2012 election, slash the budget for that office. Let them find a job, if they want to be fulfilled. Quit spending our money.

I’m ready to vote this silly circus-like Presidency out come November. I can’t wait….and yes, I did succumb to voting for this clown….unfortunately. But he won’t fool me again.

OPPS! I meant 5 times a week!

The First lady is doing more for the American people right now then the Republicans. Good for her! Good for the country!

It’s about time. I go to the grocery store and see 300 lb women being followed by 100 lb 5 yr old kids.

we don’t need actors telling us either…it’s about as bad as them telling kids drugs and smoking are bad and later they get caught doing them….

These forums just prove that most people do not have a clue. First off the FDA has been run by the big food industry ever since Bush 1, so that includes Clinton and Bush 2. Next they make food cheap and addictive, they add sugars and salts that humans crave knowing that people will keep buying it over and over. Healthy food is more expensive because it’s not as addictive therefore not as profitable. This has nothing to do with the administration or the President, it’s for show as the food industry owns DC, Back in the 50′s the FDA wanted to make it illegal to aim food ads at children, they were threatened by congress with being disband. Finally, Jody first off the elections for President are not this November, second more important issues than obesity? Are you serious? Do you realize that Obesity is part of the reason health care is so expensive? If people would get in shape millions of dollars per year, if not billions, could be saved on healthcare. Obesity can lead to cancer, diabetes, and other life threatening diseases, People joining the military cannot pass physicals, and the VA treats more veterans for problems stemming from obesity than any other reason. So tell me again that the Obesity problem isn’t a real concern when diabetes in children is on the rise and it didn’t exist 15 years ago, and the armed forces are having problems finding quality candidates(they already lowered standards.

Is part of this initiative to keep parents from earning a living so they can’t buy food for their potentially obese kids? Hey, if you can’t afford to buy food, you probably won’t get fat. They may mean well but they’re out of touch and without a clue.

I don’t know exactly what she has planned but the problem ultimately lies in the parents. Many parents are under 30 years old, having children before even getting out of highschool, or before being married and many of them don’t have the time/money/education to feed children right. I live in pittsburgh and I see MANY young mothers (and some well-to-do looking mothers also) in the grocery store asking their children what color chip bag they want (too young to know flavor words) or what type of pop they want.
I was brought up in a household with a working nurse mother and working cop father, weird hours, McDonalds being easy. This was in the late 80s/early 90s before it was THAT much of a concern, then my parents divorced, had a single mother which then brought in an inexperienced step-father. Once again, fast food. Easy. But I also throughout all of this had home-cooked meals and the fast food was not an everyday thing. I am now 25,on weight watchers, and skating for a local roller derby leauge. I take it upon myself to try to be healthy but I do not blame my parents. They tried to make me eat well but I refused. My granny always home-cooked everything and I hated vegetables, like most kids. I may have been addicted to the gross fast food, but both of my parents, since they were children, both growing up in “farm-like, home-cooking” families, were the biggest out of their brothers and sisters. I got the crappy end of the bargain there.
I live on my own and have a job (not in the field of my degree) but I don’t make as much money as I should and groceries are EXPENSIVE. $3-$4 for bread? For milk? Are you kidding?
We’ve been promoting nutrition forever. I took a nutrition class in high school, and we had gym class (I graduated in ’03). We can’t shove this crap down everyone’s throats anymore because who has listened? People need to slow down, stop working so hard, stop having children before they are even legal to have a job, and food needs to not be so damn expensive. Sounds impossible right? It is.
I’m glad they are bringing attention to this issue, but I have a feeling they will go about in the wrong way. not because they’re “bad leaders” or “it was a mistake to vote them in” just because every single person in this country is different. Some need to have a heart attack to eat right, some feel that they are invincible and will never get harmed, and some just need to watch “Supersize Me” and they’re done.
Hopefully they find a way to fix it.

Also, just bringing back PE isn’t going to solve the problem. Kids need at least an hour of moderate exercise once a day. PE doesn’t count as moderate exercise unless you break a sweat learning how to play ping pong. There needs to be healthy foods offered at schools, and kids need to play and exercise when they get home from school, not sit in front of “the babysitter aka the tv” until it’s bedtime.

Oh for heaven’s sake!!!!! “Ending” childhood obesity is as simple as exercise and cutting out too much junk food. This is THE PARENTS’ job, not the freakin First Lady of the U.S!! Quit trying to control people’s personal choices…no amount of Actors/Celeb ad campaigns are going to change ANYTHING AT ALL. It’s all another big WASTE of money.

Follow the money. It is cheaper to produce food that is bad for you.

Please take a look at the athletic directors and coaches in the schools today. I’m a grandparent whose family is not overweight but………..when I attend athletic events and see the coaches and directors with nearly obese bodies and looks like they could have a heart attack at the end of an excitingly close game, I wonder what the young team thinks about the examples being set for them. I bet the coach couldn’t run laps around the court or field one time!!!! Let’s begin at the top by setting better examples for our children. I get upset every time I have to look at the overweight coaches and watch them chow down on donuts before and between games. Thanks for listening. Wish I knew how to get in touch with the First Lady.

I applaude the First Lady and wish more people would get involved and educate our youth about exercise and nutrition.

Obesity fixed. Next…

I would think that, if any parent finds this memorandom offensive, then there must be a weight problem within their surroundings,) Whether it’s the children or the parents with the issue. The issue here, is to acheive a healthy diet, so our children don’t grow up to be obesity and unhealthy. Also, This memorandum could benefit the parents as well, if they are obesity to encourage them to drop their weight too. I think that, the First Lady is right for doing this, because she’s concerned about the children’s health, and giving them a better chance at succeeding in life by becoming more healthy. The First Lady is right, this is a first step! People need to be, not so quick to anger and judge Obama our President, he is doing his job; and Rome wasn’t built over night, nither! I say, leave Obama alone and quit picking on him; let him do his job and be patient. Obama wasn’t chosen to be the Pesident of the United States for no reason, We all need to be patient, remember; that’s what we teach our children to do also, to be patient. What kind of an example are we showing our children of patience, if we are not patient enough for our President! God Bless the President, the First Lady and their Children too!! Thank you

Nothing wrong with addressing this issue. We have the highest rates of youth having type 2 diabetes. People need to stop making this a political issue, this is a health issue. Watch the right wing loons start feeding their children fatty foods just to spite Mrs. Obama. They are not the brightest bunch. You saw the Tea Party convention. posted by Brandon
————–
Strange, you say we should not make it a political issue and then insult people who probably do not share your views on politics.

Also, just bringing back PE isn’t going to solve the problem. Kids need at least an hour of moderate exercise once a day. PE doesn’t count as moderate exercise unless you break a sweat learning how to play ping pong. posted by childhoodobesityisaproblem
—————–
You are correct, JUST bringing back PE isn’t going to solve the problem. There is no ONE solution, but getting children out of a chair in the classroom for an hour a day 5 days a week for active games and good old exercise would sure help.
And exercise during the schoolday will help learning as well as burn off some calories.

I’m continually amazed by how petty, ignorant, and plain stupid so many people are.
The President and First Lady addressing a huge issue in this country. THE HEALTH OF OUR CHILDREN!!!
Those of you complaining need to get a clue. First Ladies ALWAYS have an issue or cause that they focus on. Remember Nancy Reagan and the “Just Say No” campaign.
And you are throwing out a bunch of BS about big govt and other terms you hear on TV/radio yet I bet not one of you knows any of the specifics that are being discussed in addressing this issue.
There truly is little hope for this country when so many people are so consumed with petty partisanship and being cynical that they complain that people want to help kids be HEALTHIER.
Unbelievable.

If the economy doesn’t get fixed soon, all of our children will have to go on a diet.

Of course, I live in Massachussetts. I was already forced into health care reform so I could have “low cost” health care. Then in the recent senate election I was told we now needed to support Obama Care to get low cost health care.
Odd, that I need to support a new bill, to get what they told me I already had!
Posted by: Heather | Feb 9, 2010 3:14:04 PM
_____________________________________
Interesting. As suspected – many people in Mass voted against Democrats because they already have a type of ‘universal’ health care, and felt the current legislation would only cost them, not benefit them.

The family that propagandizes together, stays together.

If something isn’t done about the economy, we won’t need a presidential memorandum to eliminate obesity in children. People who are starving don’t stay obese very long.
With that being said, I’d like to point out that nobody voted for the First Lady. So why is she spending American tax dollars?

Parents, not the President or government, should be worrying about their fat kids and what they feed them and the fact that they get no exercise stuck to computers and cell phones day/night.
The President’s job is to FIX THIS COUNTRY AND GOD KNOWS IT NEEDS FIXING.

If you want to solve the problem of childhood obesity you first have to solve the problem of adult obesity, and to do that you need to outlaw corn sugars from all foods, shut down all fried food, fast food outlets, shut down the crap food industry, and get everyone to walk to work–or ride a bike, and outlaw driving the SUV to 7-11 to buy potato chips and corn dogs.

pretty simple get rid of the electronic games and computers and organized sports and get the kids outside having fun.

Peter, Surgeon General Benjamin joined the First Lady in a public event last week to announce the new campaign, and she even issued the “Surgeon General’s Vision Statement” on obesity and health. It was widely covered by the media.
But the Surgeon General is not the only person in the administration who is allowed to talk about health issues. Just like First Lady Laura Bush was allowed to talk about literacy without having the Secretary of Education constantly in tow.
However, knowing all of this would require a memory greater than that of a gnat, so I hope this helps you.

ABOUT TIME, THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS
A PRIORITY OR AT LEAST,THE A FRONT TOPIC
AND A MAJOR CONCERN. I’M AFFILIATED WITH A NONPROFIT FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES. ALSO, IF WE DON’T “ALL” ADDRESS THIS ISSUE. THERE CANNOT BE A FUTURE FOR OUR KIDS..NOR A FUTURE FOR OUR COUNTRY AS ‘NO ONE ‘ WILL BE ‘FIT’
TO SERVE/MILITARY OUR COUNTRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. WHICH MEANS ‘NO FREEDOM’

If you really want our children to reduce obesity start taking out the food additives, artificial sweeteners, preservatives and hormones in our food and meat. When I was a child in the 1950s we had no preservatives in food, our meats had no hormones in them, we had organic food then because we had to make it fresh and then had a few days to eat it. Everything was made fresh. Another problem is school lunch time, only a half hour to get seated, start eating and then back to class. Kids eat much faster and probably shovel food down, not being able to digest it proper. When this happens they don’t feel full, which in turn can make a child eat more at lunch. They need longer lunch time also. I had 45 minutes in shccol to eat lunch and I had gym or recess everyday. What I’m trying to point out to the public is we didn’t have the obesity in children as you see today and I do believe it is because we ate food and meat that was free of any chemicals, hormones and preservatives. I don’t see any movement to get rid of these practices in our food, Our children need less homework to play and be with family, but all I hear from Mr Obama is longer school hours and advancing education so children will never be physical after school because of the amount of homework load they will incur in the near future. Don;t forget the children who ride the buses, they’re getting home later because of the distance they travel now before to and from because of diversity in schools, so by the end of the day these children as most are tired of sitting all day and need to find energy to do homework, along with having a parent help them til late into the night! So figure all this into your agenda of “obesity” before you start spending our tax dollars to the degree you are spending Mr and Mrs Obama
because we Americans can’t afford much more of your wonderful ideas and it would be nice just to afford food at the high cost with the dept our country is in right now and no job here thank you for that too!

what a communist-type agenda these 2 have–maybe they should look at their own children and leave the rest of us alone–next thing you know,they will try to shut down McDonalds

as a mother i would not stand by and listen to a doc tell my kids they are over weight what kind of emotional scaring it would bring on childern that is about to face hormonal world,dont you think its a parents place to tell this to their childern.we live in a world of slim jims.. before you iknow it they be throwing up there lunch cause the world is watching them