The First Lady, Michelle Obama, has been recognized for her style, grace, and elegance, but its one initiative that has been flying under the radar that I think hasn’t gotten much attention. That is her incredible efforts to preserve our children’s future through a lifestyle of healthy living. Her Let’s Move! Campaign has an ambitious but important goal: to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. Her goal is to get all Governors’ from across the country to act and move on this to give our kids the future they deserve. I, for one, applaud and commend The First Lady on her efforts.
Now to most, especially in black communities, from what I have grown up seeing, healthy living for children is not a major or high priority. With gang violence, drugs, and poverty childhood obesity is not on the high list of concerns for parents. Growing up in Harlem I’ve seen this first hand, I’ve seen young mothers feed their 3 year old bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, I’ve seen parents send their kids to bed eating chips and soda. So not only does The First Lady have a great challenge in front of her, but so do many living in black communities, it’s a challenge that we can and must win, in fact, it’s probably one of the easiest challenges that we have in front of us. It all starts with the parents’ ability to provide their children with the proper diet. No chips, no soda, no sugary cereals in the morning, and let’s start with fruits, vegetables, water, fruit juices, and exercise, I know it’s easier said than done but we can do it. The First Lady believes we can do it, in fact, she was interviewed by Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and presidential candidate, and he fully supports the First Lady’s initiative because he knows the importance of healthy living losing 100lbs himself over the course of 2 years.
So this shouldn’t be a partisan issue I’m sure Democrats and GOPer’s alike will be behind the First Lady on this initiative. We should all be behind the First Lady. I, for one, am tired of seeing the same businesses in black communities that are harmful to our children’s health, for example, Chinese restaurants and chicken spots. I’ve seen parents feed their children this unhealthy food with no shame. So let’s get behind the First Lady on this one, let’s save our children’s health, ‘Let’s Act and Let’s Move’.
