U.S. first lady to visit Texas on nationwide anti-childhood obesity campaign

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Texas next week as one stop of her three-day nationwide tour to promote her initiative to combat childhood obesity, the White House said Friday. The visit is part of the tour by the first lady to celebrate the second anniversary of Let's Move!, her initiative to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation, according to an announcement by the White House. The tour, from February 9 through 11, will also bring Obama to Iowa, Arkansas and Florida. She will highlight roles that churches, restaurants, schools, businesses, families and the military can play in fighting obesity. The Let's Move! Campaign was announced on February 9, 2010 by Michelle Obama, who indicated the campaign would encourage healthier food in schools, better food labeling and more physical activity for children. On the same date, President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum creating the Task Force on Childhood Obesity to review current programs and develop a national action plan. The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 20 percent in 2008, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents in the country were overweight or obese.