First Lady Michelle Obama’s focus on Childhood Obesity, Military Families & Motherhood
Born January 17, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois, Michelle Obama attended Princeton University, graduating cum laude in 1985 with a B.A. in Sociology. She went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1988 and began her law career at a Chicago law firm where she met husband Barack Obama (now the 44th President of the United States); they got married in 1992 and have 2 kids.
Since becoming First Lady in January of 2009, Michelle Obama has been anywhere but on the sidelines. The First Lady has made headlines ranging from her highly scrutinized fashion choices, to the issues she focuses on as First Lady. Footage of the First Lady dancing, jumping hoops, giving warm hugs and laughing heartily have become all too familiar with Americans these days. Passionate and smart, Michelle Obama has demonstrated that she is at the core a family person, who cares genuinely cares about the community and the issues they face.
During her husband’s term, the First Lady has championed causes that she feels strongly about, which are also in line with husband Barack Obama’s agenda as President … issues which she believes not only have national implications, but international ones as well.
Childhood Obesity
According to the CDC, Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the United States in the past 30 years. In 2008, more than one third of American children (aged 6–11) and adolescents (12–19 years old) were overweight or obese. Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults, and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer ( including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma), and osteoarthritis.
It is no wonder Michelle Obama continues to focus on this problem. “Obesity in this country is nothing less than a public health crisis. It’s threatening our children, it’s threatening our families and, more importantly, it’s threatening the future of this nation,” she said back in January 2010 just before launching a national campaign against childhood obesity.
Mrs Obama’s goal has primarily been to educate parents and children on the importance of healthy eating, and to make healthy foods accessible and affordable even in low income neighborhoods. “If people can have the opportunity to go into a nice, good-looking grocery store and buy a head of lettuce and maybe a prepackaged roasted chicken dinner, they’ll do it if it’s affordable,” she told Reader’s Digest in a Dec. 2011.
The First Lady has actively led campaigns for healthy choices and lifestyles by encouraging gardening (which she has taken up herself, hence the title Veggie-Gardener-in-Chief), joining forces with Walmart and applauding food chains like McDonalds for making healthy changes to their menus.
Military Families
Mrs Obama believes that most countries do not pay enough attention to military families. The first lady admits not knowing much about the needs of military families before she began meeting military wives during round-table discussions while on the campaign trail with husband then presidential candidate. “Their challenges – all the same issues that civilian families were dealing with, but with the added stress of multiple deployments and frequent moves – were things I knew nothing about, because I don’t come from a military family. And my thought was, well if I don’t know, others don’t know either.”
She has become a constant voice shinning the light on the sacrifices and struggles of men and women in uniform; also raising awareness about how communities can help support them; and strongly highlighted unemployment challenges faced by veterans, mental health issues in these families especially post traumatic stress disorder and the impact of deployment on marriages and kids, especially those who loss a parent. “Just making it a part of the conversation of this country and not pretending that it doesn’t exist could help. And the hope is that military families and our service members will help us as a nation to deepen our understanding of mental health generally, that the gains that we can hopefully make here will carry on to the broader population.”
Mrs Obama works closely with wife of Vice President Biden, Dr Jill whose son, a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard has served in Iraq.
According to Veterans Groups, the team of Michelle Obama and Jill Biden has organized and attended more events for and with military veterans and their families than any previous first lady. “Certainly other first ladies and presidents have taken an interest, but to make supporting military families [a priority], and not just to make it one of the things you do, this is a game-changer,” said Joyce Raezer, Executive Director of the National Military Family Association.
Sean O’Keefe, former Navy secretary and NASA administrator recently said, “Obama has raised the visibility of the challenges confronted by the families of military service members’ frequent relocation, psychological impact of children often raised by single parents due to long deployments, higher incidents of alcohol and drug abuse, and the often difficult access to healthcare.”
Family
How does the first couple juggle work and family? President Obama and Mr Obama have made it clear that in the Obama home, the children come first. Mrs Obama told Reader’s Digest that she and the President’s main responsibility as parents is to retain as much normalcy around their two girls as possible including attending PTO meetings and going on family trips. She goes on to discuss the following:
- Eating habits: “My job is to make sure my kids have healthy habits and understand the choices that they need to make. But their taste buds are no different from any other kids’.”
- Values: “We have to prepare them for life beyond the White House, and that means chores, responsibilities, treating people with dignity and respect, and being mindful of elders and polite and kind to others. These values are values that we want them to have when they are old and gray.”
- About her mother, Marian, the first mother-in-law ever to take on full-time residence in the White House, Mrs Obama says, “I just walk up to her [mom] room and plop down on the couch, and then I vent. And she listens, and she tells me to get up and get it together, and I do…. she’s always been a wonderful sounding board – objective and no-nonsense, common sense. She will tell you the truth. She doesn’t mince words, but her love is unconditional. These are the values I cherish most in her.”
A lawyer, city administrator, community worker, mother, and committed wife, Michelle Obama has been described as a woman who knows what’s in her heart, a woman who is comfortable with who she is, and one who is unafraid to voice her thoughts. This first African American Fist Lady continues to inspire women everywhere to follow their hearts and be themselves.
Quote of the day: “I am not interested in being anyone but Michelle Obama,” Michelle Obama on Oprah.
