First lady announces new website to help students exercise

Imagine students learning their ABCs while dancing, or memorizing multiplication tables while doing jumping jacks.

Some schools are using both methods of instruction, and Michelle Obama would like to see more of them use creative ways to help their students get the recommended hour of daily exercise they need.

As part of her “Let’s Move” program, a three-year-old campaign against childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama has announced a new website where school officials can sign up to get started.…Read More

First lady announces website to help kids exercise

Imagine students learning their ABCs while dancing, or memorizing multiplication tables while doing jumping jacks: Some schools are using both methods of instruction, and First Lady Michelle Obama would like to see more of them use other creative ways to help students get their recommended hour of daily exercise, reports the Associated Press.

In Chicago on Feb. 28, the first lady was announcing a new partnership to help schools do just that. It starts with a website, www.letsmoveschools.org, where school officials and others can sign up to get started.

Mrs. Obama said too many penny-pinched schools have either cut spending on physical education or eliminated it outright to put the money toward classroom instruction. But the first lady who starts most days with a workout—and other advocates of helping today’s largely sedentary kids move their bodies—say that’s a false choice, because studies show exercise helps youngsters focus and do well in school.…Read More

Health education gets a federal boost

Schools step up to the plate and take an active role in Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative.
Schools are encouraged to take an active role in Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative.

Roughly a third of American children are overweight, researchers say, and 17 percent are obese—a condition that increases their risk of getting diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other illnesses.

Many health experts point to the amount of “screen time” that today’s students are logging as a key contributing factor in the child obesity epidemic. Now, backed by a campaign launched by First Lady Michelle Obama earlier this year, some schools are using the same technologies that have many kids glued to their cell phones and iPods for hours at a time as useful instructional tools in their health-education programs.

To encourage students to adopt a healthier lifestyle, one recent lesson at Aaron Academy, a private special-education school in New York, had students research the nutritional content of popular food items online, then download this information to their mobile computers.…Read More