First lady observes Let's Move! milestone

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The conversation about childhood obesity has changed in the United States, first lady Michelle Obama said on the third anniversary of her Let's Move! program.

"When we started, there were a lot of people in this country who would have never thought that childhood obesity was a health crisis. But now we're starting to see some movement on this issue," Obama said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday. "Our kids are eating better at school. They're moving more. ... We're starting to see rates of obesity coming down like never before."

Obama said she was marking the anniversary with a national tour.

Her first stop will be Clinton, Miss., Wednesday, to highlight healthy school lunches with television cooking personality Rachael Ray.

"I'm going back to Mississippi because when I first went there, Mississippi was considered one of the most unhealthy states in the nation," Obama said.

Since then, she said, childhood obesity has fallen in the state by 13 percent, "so we're going to go celebrate and highlight what has been going on there. There's still work to do," the first lady said.

On Thursday, Obama will travel to Chicago to promote physical activity in schools, ABC News said. She also will discuss healthy food choices at an appearance at a Walmart in Springfield, Mo.

Obama said she will announce a new initiative called the "My Plate Recipe Partnership," which will provide families online access to healthy recipes that meet the "My Plate" guidelines, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's successor to the food pyramid.

"More and more chefs [and] more and more food companies are understanding that they have to find ways to help families do this in a way that's going to taste good," she said.