Prevention Matters

Michelle Obama says she will launch a major initiative in February to combat the problem of childhood obesity. She mentioned the upcoming effort at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, saying she wanted "to put in place commonsense initiatives and solutions that empower families and communities to make healthy decisions for their kids."

Under the initiative, she says, the federal government will work with local officials and leaders in the foundation, business and non-profit sectors to increase the number of schools that serve nutritious food, provide more opportunities for kids to be physically active and give more communities access to affordable healthy food.