<<Print>>

US First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a nationwide campaign to tackle child obesity. One in three children in the US is overweight or obese and Mrs Obama says the issue threatens America's future. She is setting out an ambitious plan to try to solve the childhood obesity problem within a generation.The Let's Move campaign will seek to raise the nutritional level of school meals and improve access to healthier food in deprived areas. Mrs Obama has stressed that the campaign, launched on Tuesday, is not entirely hers.She has enlisted the help of politicians, entertainers and sports personalities to get the message across.Parents, businesses, schools and local government will need to increase their efforts in the area, she has said. Parents will be encouraged to enrol their children in extra-curricular sports and leisure activities.Mrs Obama has herself performed a hula-hoop routine at the White House to try to increase the profile of exercise for children.On Tuesday she told USA Today: "I would move heaven and earth to give my kids all the chance in the world for them to be at the top of their game in every way, shape and form." In his budget proposal last week, President Barack Obama called for an additional $1bn to fund child nutrition programmes.In recent years US obesity rates have stabilised, but they remain significantly higher than in most other developed countries. The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington says one in six children in the US is considered obese and today's children are predicted to live shorter lives than their parents.