Michelle Obama confesses fast-food sins

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. first lady Michelle Obama says she was once seduced by the ease of drive-through fast food and had her daughters on the road to childhood obesity.

Mrs. Obama told a crowd of employees of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington she needed a wake-up call from her pediatrician to take a serious look at what daughters Sasha and Malia were eating.

"I was shocked," she said. "I felt we had our stuff together."

The first lady admitted that as recently as two years ago she was finding it extremely convenient to pick up pizza or burgers for the kids while juggling her career and her husband's political obligations.

The health risks posed by obesity, especially among children, were the theme of Mrs. Obama's remarks to more-than 400 HHS staff members who were selected in a lottery to see the first lady.