Michelle Obama: I Got Too Much Attention for Hula Hooping

By: Mark Knoller
Topics: White House

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Remember when the first lady did some hula hooping last month during Healthy Kids Fair at the White House? (See more photos here)

Today, Mrs. Obama said she "got a little too much attention from the hula hooping."

She was discussing healthy lifestyle and living curriculum with teachers at Hollin Meadows School in Alexandria.

But Mrs. Obama said the goal of the hula hooping was to engage "families and kids in the whole area of fitness."

One of the teachers told her that her hula hooping inspired the kids and even him to follow suit.

Mrs. Obama visited the school cafeteria and with the principal, handed bananas and oranges to kids as they emerged from the chow line.

She says government can do better in the school lunches provided to kids.

"The low rates of vegetables and fruits in those meals and the high rates of foods that have high calories probably plays a role in some of the statistics the we hear, that one in three kids in this country are obese," said the first lady.

She described childhood obesity as a problem "we have to really combat."

"If we don't do something about it now it's only going to get worse."

(AP)

With Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at her side, Mrs. Obama pointed to the USDA's healthy schools initiative. She promised to visit schools that got on board, and today's outing was her fist such payoff.

Mrs. Obama also went outside and got a first-hand look at the schools vegetable garden, watching kids harvest some heads of lettuce they planted weeks earlier.

She said that even at schools that don't have a lot of resources, "there are ways to improve what we're doing in nutrition and fitness."

Just don't ask her to hula hoop again.

(CBS)

Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.

Mark Knoller
Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent.
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by watervliet November 19, 2009 9:15 AM EST: A GOOD THING; Reply to this comment


by bcs2k November 18, 2009 9:40 PM EST: @ssac32767;Mrs. Obama's endeavor is an excellent thing!; Reply to this comment


by isaac32767 November 18, 2009 4:27 PM EST: All this attention + millions of little girls who admire Michelle Obama = Lots of Hula Hooping = Small but Significant Decline in Childhood Obesity. Ms. Obama would prefer a more nuanced response to her efforts, but if she's started a healthy fad, that's not exactly a bad thing.; Reply to this comment