Remarks by the First Lady at Childhood Obesity Summit
South Court Auditorium
1:40 P.M. EDT
MRS. OBAMA: Thank you, everyone. (Applause.) Thank you all so much. It’s a pleasure to be here with all of you.
Let me begin by thanking Melody for that kind introduction, that wonderful story. It’s happening in kitchens and households all over America -- kids really moving for the change. I also want to thank Melody for her work in chairing the task force. She has been instrumental, and we’ve seen such significant movement under her leadership.
I’d also like to thank several members of this administration who are providing invaluable leadership on this issue. Melody introduced them, but let me take time to also thank Secretaries Duncan and Salazar, OBM Director Peter Orszag, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and Nancy-Ann DeParle. Is Nancy-Ann here? She is the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform and she obviously has been incredibly instrumental on this and so many efforts in this administration.
Thank you all for your leadership. This has been an administration-wide effort and I am so proud of this team. Everyone in this administration has embraced this issue with a level of fervor and commitment. That's why we are able to be standing here today, having made so much progress in such a short period of time.
This gathering has never happened before at the White House. It’s one where we’re bringing together teachers and child advocates, doctors and nurses, business leaders, public servants, researchers and health experts to talk about one of the most serious and difficult problems facing our kids today, and that is the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country.
We’re here because we all care deeply about the health and well-being of America’s children. And we’ve gathered folks from across America and across just about every relevant field because, in the end, solving this problem is going to take every single one of us.
And that’s really at the heart of the “Let’s Move” campaign.
We launched this campaign two months ago, but the idea actually was inspired by the planting of the White House Kitchen Garden.
Last March, with the help of local students who have been so incredible, we planted the garden on the South Lawn of the White House, and it allowed us to begin a conversation about the importance not just of healthy eating -- eating right, eating the good food -- but also about getting exercise into our lives.
The kids during that whole year of planting and harvesting showed so much enthusiasm, so much excitement about that garden and about the potential of the topic that we realized there was an opportunity to do much more, because they were so open.
So we launched “Let’s Move.” The campaign is designed to raise awareness about the problem of childhood obesity and to focus on how we as a nation have to come together to solve it.
My husband signed a presidential memorandum creating the first-ever government-wide Task Force o