Michelle to govs: Fight childhood obesity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- First lady Michelle Obama Saturday pressed her anti-obesity campaign at the National Governors' Association meeting in Washington.

Obama launched her "Let's Move" fitness campaign this month and Saturday told the governors meeting at the J.W. Marriott that unless something is done about childhood obesity now, "just wait until 10 years from now. Think about the many billions we're going to be spending then."

Obama said she knows state budgets are tight and are weighed down by staggering Medicaid costs. But she said we cannot afford to ignore the problem.

"We have to begin by understanding how we got here, what's caused this crisis in the first place," she said, noting it was easier for children to stay fit while she was growing up when most walked to neighborhood schools and didn't spend time sitting on the couch playing video games.

The first lady called for a comprehensive approach free of politics.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean an expensive approach," she said.

"Working for the next generation is what drives so many Americans to do what they do -- to work that extra shift, to take that extra job, to go without themselves just so that their kids can have more than they did. It's what we've always done in this country. I know my parents have done it for me. They measured their success by the success of their children, by whether their children were happier and healthier and had a better shot at fulfilling their dreams than they did."