Tag Archives: childhood obesity

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Fox rolls out another blowhard

Keith Ablow isn’t looking at the same person many of the rest of us are seeing.

Ablow is a Fox News Channel commentator. He’s a shrink who has declared that first lady Michelle Obama needs to “drop a few” pounds if she is going to be a credible spokeswoman for healthy eating.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/fox-keith-ablow-michelle-obama-109985.html?hp=l20

OK. Let’s see here. The woman I have watched functioning as first lady of the United States looks pretty damn fit. She’s also, shall we say, easy on the eyes.

Michelle Obama also is an accomplished lawyer and an individual who speaks fervently and eloquently on behalf of her husband … which, of course, shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Ablow popped off on a Fox talk show and was taken to task immediately by some of his cohorts on the program. He didn’t back down. He’s standing by his comment that the first lady isn’t fit — pun intended — to lead the discussion on childhood nutrition.

Well, it’s no use trying to pick apart the comments of someone who — I’m supposing — doesn’t support much of anything that comes out of the Obama White House, given that he’s a Fox News Channel talking head/gasbag.

He’s taking on the first lady, whose message — which has been to encourage healthier food choices in public schools — has been resonating with most Americans already and according to medical studies has produced tangible results by reducing childhood obesity.

Keep up the good work, Mrs. Obama. Never mind the musings of a goofy psychiatrist.

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Food fight erupts in Congress

There likely can be no greater example of the current political pettiness infecting Congress than the fight that’s erupting over first lady Michelle Obama’s desire to have our children eat healthier meals in school.

http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/celeb-chef-bashes-gop-food-plan-272409155677

Congressional Republicans want to scale back Mrs. Obama’s healthy-eating program. They contend, along with their activist friends, that the first lady is trying to force feed healthy eating habits in our public schools, making school administrators adhere to silly dietary rules.

The first lady has taken an uncharacteristically (for her) stance in response to the criticism. She’s fighting back.

She’s noting that childhood obesity has begun to decline in the country. Children’s healthier school meals are having a tangible — and positive — impact on their health.

And somehow this is seen as a bad thing?

I’ll need some help understand this one, folks.

Congressional Republicans want to roll back the standards the government has enacted for our kids. The first lady says she’s offended as a mother and as an American. She blasts Republicans for “playing politics with our nation’s children.”

Is there no end, or limit, to this political petulance?

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Right-wing media go fishing for anti-Obama grist

It long has been clear that the right-wing mainstream media cannot find enough material with which to batter their foes in the White House.

This item came to light this afternoon on the Fox News Channel.

Fox News talking heads were critical of — get this — the calorie count of the meal served at the White House state dinner that President and Mrs. Obama hosted in honor of visiting French President Francois Hollande.

They were yapping that the meal contained 2,500 calories. I didn’t hear precisely what they served at the White House, but I’m quite sure it was mighty sumptuous.

Why target the meal?

Well, first lady Michelle Obama has taken up the cause of healthy eating. She’s counseled parents about how to serve healthier food to their children, campaigned for schools to quit serving carbonated soda and fatty food and encouraged other institutions to dispense with “junk food” in favor of fruit and vegetables.

The Obamas’ critics on the right, of course, have accused the first lady of seeking to make it “illegal” to serve fatty food, which she has not done.

Then the White House chef turns out some gaudy meal for the Obamas to serve at the White House, which according to the right-wing mainstream media amounts to evidence of hypocrisy.

Allow me to add that the president noted in his State of the Union speech recently that his wife’s campaign to fight childhood obesity is working. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an actual decline in the number of obese children since 2009.

So, let the first couple indulge a little for a visiting head of state.

They can get back on their own healthy-eating routine tomorrow.