Nearly one in three American kids is overweight or obese. On Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama launched a new nationwide initiative designed to help kids lead healthier lives.
Obama's "Let's Move" initiative will spend nearly $10 billion over the next 10 years to combat child obesity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity in the US has tripled in the past 30 years. Being overweight can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes among other medical conditions.
Austin ISD officials say they're excited to have this issue in the national spotlight.
Mrs. Obama's goal is to get obesity under control in 10 years. In AISD, schools already have a head start on the issue.
Student health coordinator Tracy Lunoff says the district's program is very similar to Mrs. Obama's -- it involves everything from how much time is spent in physical activity to cutting the fat from school lunches.
"We offer fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, we have a chef in the district to help look at the look of food and the taste 'cause we want students to eat in the cafeteria cause it really is a well-balanced well rounded meal," Lunoff said. "We also banned the foods of minimal nutritional value that includes soft drinks from grades K-12 back in August of 2006."
The district says the most important component of the fight against childhood obesity -- is parents. They need to be the ones to help their kids with food choices and getting up and exercising together as a family.
