Politics. On Point.

As part of her  Let’s Move!  initiative, the First Lady will welcome 63 local elected officials and representatives from across the country on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 to celebrate their commitment to building healthier communities. At the event, the First Lady will commemorate  Let’s Move!  Cities, Towns and Counties , reaching 500 communities, resulting in nearly 80 million Americans impacted by the program.  Let’s Move!  Cities, Towns and Counties, led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National League of Cities, calls upon local elected officials to adopt long-term, sustainable and holistic approaches to addressing childhood obesity.  Each local elected official has pledged to achieve the following five goals to promote healthy living throughout the community: 1)        Helping early care and education providers incorporate best practices for nutrition and physical activity ...

“ The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge ” Welcomes Children and Their Parents to Create Healthy Lunch Recipes for an Invite to a Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House With the overwhelming success of the inaugural Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids' “State Dinner” in 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama is again teaming up with Epicurious, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Department of Agriculture to host a nationwide recipe challenge to promote healthy eating among America’s youth. “Last year’s Kids State dinner was one of my favorite events we’ve ever done for Let’s Move! because it perfectly captured how young people, parents, community leaders and businesses can come together for innovative, healthy solutions,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.  “Last year’s young chefs impressed and inspired me with their creativity, and I can’t wait to welcome a whole new group to the White House this summer and taste their creations.  So kids, let’s get cooking!” The second Hea...

First Lady Michelle Obama will answer questions about her Let’s Move! initiative using her office’s @FLOTUS twitter account. Twitter users can ask Mrs. Obama questions using the hashtag #AskFLOTUS. The First Lady announced the Q&A session via the following tweet from the @FLOTUS account where she tweeted: "Tomorrow at 11:05ET, I'll answer some questions about @LetsMove & how we can improve the health of our kids. Join with #AskFLOTUS" –mo. The first lady's personal tweets end with her sig, -mo, as above, while her husband's tweets end with his sig, -bo. Let's hope the children don't get in trouble for tweeting while at school.

Students from around the country joined First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday to help plant vegetables in the White House garden. This year marks the fourth year that the first lady has invited students to partake in the planting, many who wrote about their own gardens at their schools. Added to this year's garden will be the plain, white potato.  The potato will join the sweet potato in this year's crop of healthy food items. The first lady maintains that any family can start their own garden.  White House chef, Sam Cass, who shared that spinach would be on the menu for dinner last evening, said to reporters, "This is doable by any family, be it in a window sill, back porch, backyard or community garden." "This doesn't take that much to have a huge impact on a kid.  A kid could see one seed sprout and taste one plant and have a real life changing experience." Nahmira Hishnnil, a seventh grader from Stetser Elementary School in Chester, ...

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a resolution, which has 22 original co-sponsors, designating Saturday, July 30 as National Dance Day to promote physical exercise, dance art forms, and dance education. So You Think You Can Dance producer and celebrity judge Nigel Lythgoe will announce National Dance Day on tonight’s TV show, including how participants may access the dance routines to learn for the Dance Day flash mobs. Lythgoe, the Dizzy Feet Foundation and the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, in conjunction with Norton, will host the National Dance Day celebration  at the Sylvan Theatre on the National Mall to encourage physical activity through dance forms of all kinds. National Dance Day in DC will feature a variety of dance performances by local and regional amateur dance groups, as well as a flash mob that will include participation by those who attend. Norton and Lythgoe intend to make National Dance Day an annual celebra...

The First Lady helps Americans with healthier menu options for a healthier plate. As I look at the new MyPlate icon presented today by First Lady Michelle, USDA’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak and US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, I am reminded of a young boy at a gathering who had nothing but meatballs and cookies and on his plate. “You’re plate doesn’t have anything green on it”, I said to him, as I suggested he get some of the lovely salad and fruit that was also being offered. Reluctantly, he headed over the table with the fruit and salad. With the new MyPlate icon, kids and parents everywhere can make better food choices. The USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama launch new icon to help Americans choose healthy menu items, and portion sizes. The icon is a departure from MyPyramid. Visit MyPlate.gov.  "This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we're eating and as a mom, I can already tell how much this is going ...

On Thursday, June 2, First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will unveil a new food icon that will serve as a reminder to help consumers make healthier food choices. The 2010 White House Child Obesity Task Force called for simple, actionable advice to equip consumers with information to help them make healthy food choices. As a result, USDA will be introducing the new food icon to replace the MyPyramid image as the government’s primary food group symbol. It will be an easy-to-understand visual cue to help consumers adopt healthy eating habits consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. MyPyramid will remain available to interested health professionals and nutrition educators in a special section of the new website. The new food icon will be part of a comprehensive nutrition communication initiative that provides consumers with easy-to-understand recommendations, a new website with expanded information, and other tools and resources. Watc...

There's no stopping our First Lady, Michelle Obama . Wife, mother, attorney, Presidential campaign supporter, friend to world leaders, U.S. military families advocate, education advocate, university and colleges commencement speaker, champion of the Arts, and super hero .  What have we left out? Oh, just this. First Lady Michelle Obama and Institute of Museum and Library Services Director, Susan Hildreth announced the launch of Let’s Move! Museums & Gardens. The national initiative will provide opportunities for millions of museum and garden visitors to learn about healthy food choices and will promote physical activity through interactive exhibits and programs. Mrs. Obama, addressing museum conference attendees in Houston, Texas via video message, said, "Everyday, in museums, public gardens, zoos, and so many other places, you expose our children to new ideas and inspire them to stretch their imaginations. You teach them new skills and new ways of thinking. And y...

Today, First Lady Michelle Obama joined the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN) to announce a new fitness industry effort to support our military families, particularly our National Guard and Reserve families, to further the goals of both of the First Lady’s initiatives, Let’s Move! and Joining Forces. Members of the International Health Racquet &Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) offered free memberships to immediate family members (ages 13 and older, where applicable) of deployed reservists and National Guard members. Clubs may also provide additional benefits such as childcare, children’s programming, group classes, discounts for veterans, and discounts for active duty families. Beginning June 1, spouses and teen-age children can find participating clubs in their area online at www.healthclubs.com. The website will also offer a free digital subscription to Get Active! Magazine, a publication dedicated to promoting healthy living through exercise. Th...

Young people from D.C. schools took part in a community run today as part of the Run Across America fitness program. Today's run was similar to those that have taken place in neighborhoods across the country that started in February, 2011 in California. This program is designed to inspire Americans to get up, get active and get healthy.  On hand were Kelly Ripa (host of Live With Regis and Kelly) and Dean Kamazes (known as the ultra marathon man) to help inspire the kids and families all across America to get up, get active and get healthy, fitting the precepts of the First Lady's Let's Move action plan. Before joining the First Lady on the lawn at the White House, the students participated in an assembly at DC's Thomson Elementary school and ran (with some walking) a mile down 15th street. Among the expressions of "I'm tired", the kids (ranging from eight years old and up) expressed joy in meeting the First Lady.  "I've seen her on TV,...

Our fabulous First Lady shows no signs of slowing down this week. After hosting Chinese president,  Hu Jintao at the second State Dinner of her husband, President Barack Obama; speaking to students at Howard University about studying abroad in China; and surprising tour groups during the visit to the White House, the First Lady, in partnership with Walmart, announced the company’s Nutrition Charter initiative , a groundbreaking new initiative designed to help families across America put healthier, more affordable food on their tables.   "We can do this", said the First Lady who admitted she had doubts when she first launched her Let's Move campaign designed to rid childhood obesity in U.S. children.  With a conglomerate like Walmart behind her, Mrs. Obama's initiative is even more realized. "When I see a company like Walmart launch an initiative like this, I feel more hopeful than ever before that the answer to these questions is yes ", said the Fir...

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Redskin Lorenzo Alexander at NFL Play60 event at Fred Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge, VA.  Photo/ Courtesy Redskins. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and First Lady Maureen McDonnell, along with Tanya Snyder, wife of Redskins team owner Daniel M. Snyder, Washington Redskins General Manager Bruce Allen, Redskins Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, debuted a Redskins Youth Fitness Zone last Thursday at Fred Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge, Virginia. The Redskins Youth Fitness Zone is part of the Redskins’ and GlaxoSmithKline’s commitment to Play 60 which encourages youth to be active for 60 minutes every day as a way to combat childhood obesity. According to the Prince William Health Partnership: · 28.2% of children and adolescents in the greater Prince William area are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight, · 54% of middle school students did not meet the federal recommendations for physical activity for a seven day period, ...

President Obama with Harriett Tubman Elementary student at signing of Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. It was a joyous occasion at Washington's Harriett Tubman Elementary School in Northwest DC on a cold and blustery school morning that saw many parents hurrying their kids off wrapped in scarfs, hats and gloves and plenty of backpacks. On this special day, the kids were in for a special treat.  Times two. President Obama is coming to their school for a special visit. "This is monumental", said the school's principal Harry Hughes.  It's monumental for the whole community to be a part of history.   The kids are boiling over with excitement." The president is there to sign the Hunger-Free Kids Act which means kids across the country, including the pre-K to fifth grade students at Tubman Elementary, will have better food menu choices during their busy days at school. Already, the school has made changes. "We're seeing less packaged foods...

USDA Encourages Schools to Take the HealthierUS School Challenge to Help Improve the Nutrition of School Children Nationwide New Steps Taken To Make Challenge Easier and More Successful Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today encouraged schools throughout the country to participate in the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC), an initiative that helps improve the health and nutrition of children. USDA created the HUSSC to recognize schools that maintain healthy school environments by improving the quality of meals and increasing physical activity and nutrition education. The HUSSC is also a key component of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation. "Even as Congress considers legislation to make historic improvements to school meals, there are also steps that moms and dads and others in the community can take to improve the health and nutrition of the meals their kids eat each day," said Vilsack. "While m...

We Are The Future! With just two weeks to go until the 2010 school year begins, several students protested outside the John Wilson building on Monday in an effort to get Mayor Adrian Fenty to find money to continue this year's D.C. summer jobs program. The student-protesters said their summer jobs helped prepared them for life, taught them cooking skills, and about health. Student-protestors in front of the John A.Wilson Building want their summer jobs back. Photo/CD Brown . The students also became advocates of ridding their community of bad food and liquor stores and enhanced their want for more organic-like grocery stores like Harris Teeter. "[There aren't] too many grocery stores", said Donald Simon. "Just a lot of liquor stores and take out." Members of the group said that having a summer job afforded them the opportunity to buy their own school clothes. "Things that I didn't have last year, I have now", said Melody Wynn, fo...

Mrs. Obama will launch the new Let’s Move! website by hosting a morning web chat with a live online audience facilitated by AOL Health. Questions can be submitted for the First Lady in advance of the chat via email (askmichelleobama@aol.com), on AOL, and during the live event. The web chat will be streamed live on www.LetsMove.gov and AOL at 10:00 AM EDT.