L
et's Move is just shy of two moths old, and it seems like First Lady Michelle Obama has already taken her campaign to much of America's crucial stakeholders, from mayors, to governors, to food producers, to lawmakers, to parents, school and community leaders and Cabinet Secretaries. But on Wednesday morning, Mrs. Obama took the campaign for the first time directly to the most important population of all, when she hosted a kid-only Let's Move! Town Hall at the White House. It was equal parts junior food policy wonk session and a big call to action to join her campaign.The 75 students who joined the First Lady in the State Dining Room were fourth through twelfth graders, and very, very serious. Mrs. Obama generally gets wild cheers and long applause when she appears before kids, and mobbed for hugs--even in the white House--but the Town Hall students were quiet and restrained, perhaps because the event was being broadcast live on C-SPAN, and beaming into schools across America. Yes, there was applause as the First Lady entered the State Dining Room, but none of the now-typical stompin' glee. (Above: Mrs. Obama during the broadcast)
C-SPAN's Susan Swain handled moderator duties, and Mrs. Obama took questions from the kids who were at the White House, as wells as kids who phoned in from around the country. During her opening remarks, Mrs. Obama asked the kids to lead the charge to make sure Let's Move! works, noting that ending child obesity can't be something that's driven by government; it has to be a "bottom-up" campaign. (Above: Mrs. Obama shakes hands with students after the broadcast; Swain is in the background)"You guys are going to be the key ambassadors to really make this happen," Mrs. Obama said. "Because this is really about you and it’s about the kids that are going to follow you."
Last year, Mrs. Obama deputized her first group of student Kitchen Garden helpers as her ambassadors to spread the good food word, and she's putting the same idea into place with Let's Move!. She asked the Town Hall kids to take make very conscious decisions about their choices when it comes to food, and to get active and educate their parents about nutrition.
"You can take the lead in your own homes," Mrs. Obama told the kids, and added "it’s really about you guys taking responsibility of your own future in so many ways and helping your parents and your families...."
Retooling the nag factor...
Kids should learn to cook, Mrs. Obama said. And they should know that they shouldn't eat candy all the time, even when it's available. They should know not to eat dessert every day, too. They should know water is better than sugary beverages. The First Lady has often lamented the "nag factor" of kids begging their parents for sugary and processed foods, and sympathized with tired, overworked parents who succumb and let kids eat junk, or hit the drive-thru or the microwave. But Mrs. Obama is spinning the dynamic on its head, and encouraging kids to "nag" their parents to make healthier food choices. If it works, it's a brilliant tactic. Mrs. Obama pointed to her own experience with daughters Malia and Sasha as proof of the power of "bottom up."
"Once I started talking to my kids about what they needed to eat, trust me, they were monitoring me way more than I was monitoring them," Mrs. Obama said. "They cleaned out the cabinets. They looked at labels a bit more. They made decisions about the kind of snacks they would eat. They started making pretty healthy choices for themselves, and a lot of times, when I wanted to cheat, they’d pull me back."
Before the broadcast started, an East Wing spokeswoman said that the Town Hall is just the beginning of more direct action with kids, and indicated there could well be more Town Halls, to really work the "bottom up" idea.
Mrs. Obama's Town Hall kids are in good shape to be ambassadors. A special student guest was Matthew Shimura, a seventh grader from Hawaii who won first place in the C-SPAN StudentCam competition, for his video on child obesity. And thirty of the kids were from Hampstead Hill Academy in Baltimore, which has one of the most progressive experiential nutrition programs in America. Kids grow their own food in a lavish organic garden, and also cook at school, and food science pervades the curriculum. Mrs. Obama's Food Initiative Coordinator, Sam Kass, visited Hampstead Hill as Let's Move! was being developed last year, when he was touring schools that already had model programs in place. At the Town Hall, Kass was in the back of the State Dining Room, in suit and tie, monitoring the proceedings. There was also a posse of kid reporters present, from outlets such as Scholastic News, ESPN Girl, TIME Kid, National Geographic Kids, and Teen Vogue. They'll be working the peer-to-peer Let's Move! proselytizing angle, a critical element for the campaign, since many kids take their cues from other kids more than than adults, anyway--especially when it comes to food, according to a few key studies. (Above: Mrs. Obama chats with two Girl Scouts from the National Capitol Region; they've worked on health projects as part of troop service)The junior policy wonking
The Town Hall questions were all right off the Let's Move! campaign script. Among other things, students asked how to get better foods into school lunch programs, how to make healthy foods more affordable, how to ensure that schools keep a focus on fitness when budgets are tight. The questions were apparently pre-selected by C-SPAN; photos of the kids who called in appeared onscreen during the broadcast. The one unscripted question came from a boy in the state dining room who didn't understand what "obesity" means. He asked right before the cameras started rolling, and moderator Swain worked it into the conversation with Mrs. Obama.
"I had a very important question as we were getting ready this morning, Mrs. Obama, from a young man sitting in the back," Swain said. "We keep using this big word “obesity” and he wasn’t sure what it meant."
"You know, just to make it simple, it’s when people’s weight gets higher than it should be," Mrs. Obama answered. She launched into an explanation of body mass index, but apparently from where she was sitting up front, the boy still looked worried.
After the cameras stopped rolling, Mrs. Obama went out and shook hands with the kids in the audience, and she leaned down and spoke quietly with the boy who'd asked the question. Their conversation was inaudible, but the boy was nodding his head, a lot.
On Friday, when Let's Move officially turns two months old, Mrs. Obama will host the first major child obesity meeting at the White House, with experts and practitioners from across the country joining members of the President's Child Obesity Task Force and Senior Administration officials to discuss "challenges, trends, empowering parents, access to healthy, affordable food, and more," according to media guidance. Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan are all scheduled to attend.
Related: The transcript of the event is here. Matthew Shimura's video here. Learn more about Let's Move! at www.letsmove.gov/
*Photos by Obama Foodorama
