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Clinton Takes Aim At Child Obesity
May 3, 2005
While he was President, Bill Clinton was a poster boy for gluttony and poor
physical culture. One heart surgery later, he is carrying the banner for
good nutrition and physical fitness.
Clinton and Arkensas and Governor Mike Huckabee,
another physical culture convert who has written a book about his weight-loss success,
are teaming up to take on the evil habits them for decades. They recently
launched their battle at Harlem High School in New York, warning kids to not to
get fat..
"The truth is that children are consuming more sugar and fatty foods than ever before. We want to reverse the growth in childhood obesity," Mr. Clinton told children and their teachers in a school gym. "We're going to give this our best shot because we want all these children to live to be 90 years old and to be healthy doing it."
Mr. Clinton's rebirth is almost miraculous. "I don't eat junk
food at all. ever," Mr. Clinton told CBS News Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. "I don't think I've had any junk food since my surgery."
Mr. Clinton and Huckabee would like for the:
* food and restaurant industry to improve the quality of offerings and develop marketing and promotion strategies for a healthier lifestyle.
* Schools and community groups to help increase physical activity and improve nutrition by setting standards for healthier foods in cafeterias and vending machines.
* Communities in America to engage children and their parents.
* The media encourage healthier lifestyles for young people.
Mr. Clinton said he became concerned about children's weight problems after his heart surgery.
"I'm more sensitive to it because of my recent heart problems and because I had come to terms with the fact that they came about not only because of my predisposition to high cholesterol but because of decades of poor eating habits," he said on ABC's Good Morning America.
"I was overweight as a kid so I struggled with it, on and off, all my life," the former president added. "I think the consequences are enormous. You have the onset of adult diabetes in children now, plainly because of their eating habits, aggravated by the lack of exercise. We've got to change the eating habits of America's young people."
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