We dont have to worry about diets anymore!

Sure, why don't we disrupt the whole free enterprise system! Then government can control literally everything. We cannot smoke anywhere, we are told how to drive our cars and how much insurance to carry, now they are going to tell us how to eat too? The government doesn't know what healthy food is. They allow all kinds of poisons in foods as long as they are at certain amounts. How would they know? Parents need to regulate what their kids eat.

I'm all for a campaign to get people eating healthier. I'm also all for giving farmers their water back so that they can provide Americans with more healthy food. But I do fear that government will inevitably stick its intrusive nose in and start dictating to people what they can and can't eat by way of eventual ubertax and federal bans of quantities of certain ingredients etc. I worry that my grandkids won't be able to pick up a chocolate bar in the checkout line at the store without getting slapped over the head by the candy police. I'll be living off of bootleg snacks.

There was a tv show over ten years ago, about a man who was campaigning to be elected God. It was a comedy and no one took that seriously. But I do wonder, if the Obamas are doing the same, acting like Herod to whom the people of Tyre and Sidon praised as a god. It is all right for a leader or a president to say that Americans should eat more healthy because of national pride, but that has been done before. I suppose Bush, Clinton, the older Bush and the other presidents berated that the children of America are less healthy then former generation. But it not up to them to regulate how and what is marketed and it would be a shame that the market place follows their orders when they would not have done it before. Besides are there not notices on packages listing calorie content, vitamins, minerals, etc. already? And if the food industry does what Mrs. Obama wants or demands, then America is no longer a democracy, it is a fascist state.

I have a friend who has the theory that the reason so many in the USA are fat is because the Food Nazis have so much ruined the taste of food that we keep eating everything in the hopes of finding something that tastes good. Instead of trying to force "good for you" food on us, what they need to promote, in my opinion, is getting away from sitting in front of the television or computer screen and become more physically active. Years ago when people were more physically active, you didn't have the weight problem that we have today, at least not to the same degree.

More micromanaging of our lives. Does not surprise me. But it does tick me off. We can choose to eat how we want. Americans know what food are good for us and what food aren't. If we still decide to eat unhealthy foods...that is our decision. We don't need "mom and dad" government to tell us what to do.

I don't want Government anywhere near what I can drink, eat, smoke... I still say it's the responsibility of the parents. They have the responsibility to say "no"; they're the ones with the money. If parents start saying "no" to unhealthy food for their children, the marketing, the products and services will "shift" accordingly. The word's "no". In my days as a kid, the word was "no, now shut up and eat your spinach...".

For anyone that was a child in the JFK era, there was the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Physical education was a big thing back then. Many years and President's later that budget for school and physical education was cut dramatically. No P.E., but plenty of obesity that was on the rise. I would hope that P.E. would be promoted more and if Michelle can do it in the JFK style, then more power to her.

Hmmmm, is that all the article was about? Ok, I'll address that one small part. Children are still subjected to entirely too much direct marketing of unhealthy foods, whether it's cereal that contains huge amounts of sugar to the toys they can get in a Happy Meal. I would like to see popular cartoon/tv/movie characters used to promote healthier foods. No one is suggesting additional government regulations but a change in focus when it comes to what gets marketed to our children. Some of the other things covered in the article, better nutritional labeling, healthier choices for school lunches and more physical activity for children while they're in school, is something I'm in favor of. Too many people still don't realize how much sodium is in some of the processed food they buy, that "lite" does not automatically mean low calorie or low sodium, or the amount of saturated fat something contains. My 19 year old daughter drank flavored bottled water for about a week thinking she was cutting carbs until I had her look at the label. She could have eaten pizza every day at school and the only physical activity she got during school hours in high school was P.E. class once a week. Many school systems have cut out recess altogether. Our children are overweight....far more of them then when I was growing up. They're at an increased risk for developing high blood pressure and heart disease so what's wrong with encouraging healthy eating and being more active?

When I was growing up, children were not fat. Most of us had stay at home Moms who prepared a nutritious meal for her family. We ran and played outside, so we got plenty of exercise. Today we have both parents (provided there are two parents) working outside the home. Neither parent has the time nor energy to fix a meal when they get home, so they stop at a fast food restaurant. The children are stuck in day care or after school programs or spend time, they could be playing outside, sitting in front of a television playing video games or on the computer. How does the First Lady plan to break this habit when we all know families can't live on only one salary. Some how they were able to do it when I was growing up, but they can't seem to do it today. And does she honestly think raising the tax on junk food is going to stop anyone from buying it? We're going to buy what we want. How many people actually read the nutrition labels on packages? I think before you try to solve a problem, you need to find out what caused the problem in the first place. Personally, I blame women's lib and their, women are not complete if they don't work outside the home, attitude.