The move to go on TV One is a wise one since African Americans children are inordinately obese. Also, blacks overall suffer the various consequences of being overweight, including diabetes, strokes and heart disease at rates far beyond our relatively small U.S. percentage.
“I thought that, if I don’t realize that my habits and our cultural transitions are affecting our children, then where is everybody else on this issue?” the first lady says. “And having conversations across the country, [I was] finding that more families are struggling with this issue, not realizing the impact that it’s having, particularly on the African American community — one in three kids in this country is overweight or obese, but in our community, 40 percent of our kids are overweight or obese.”
The “Let’s Move With First Lady Michelle Obama” program will include an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin. Will Allen, an urban farmer in Milwaukee who teaches inner-city residents to garden and grow healthy food in the city, will also be featured. River Terrace Elementary School in Washington, D.C., a school the first lady has visited, is working hard to encourage student physical activity and healthful eating habits.
“All our folks didn’t fight this hard for us to get to this point to find that the biggest threat to our children today could be their own health,” Obama says. –terry shropshire
