CNN 2010-02-22

The first family launched a campaign against childhood obesity 1. Well, the president signing a memorandum 2 on it. Michelle Obama says the surge in overweight kids has created a public health crisis.

In fact, the percentage of obese 3 children has more than tripled since 1970. The first lady says her goal is to eliminate childhood obesity within a generation. Well, Michelle Obama is calling on parents to take a more active role in their children's health but the campaign also calls for big changes in schools.

Our next guest would have a big hand in such a transformation 4. That being Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was with the Obamas to launch the initiative and he joins me now live from the North Lawn of the White House.

Secretary Vilsack thanks so much for taking some time out to talk about this today. And I think the person that we want to know about is exactly how are schools are going to play a role in this.

TOM VILSACK, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: Well Betty, the schools have an opportunity every single school day to provide school breakfast and school lunch and the key for us is to make sure that those lunches are as nutritious 5 and high quality as possible which is why we're asking Congress when they reauthorized the Child Nutrition Act to provide resources for fruits and vegetables so we can improve the quality of those meals and also make sure that every youngster who is entitled to receive them does in fact receive them.

NGUYEN: But you know, healthy food is often more expensive, so can schools really afford to revamp its school lunch programs?

VILSACK: Well, I don't think we can afford not to. The cost in terms of academic performance and also health care are astronomical 6. Youngsters who are overweight or youngsters who are hungry just simply don't learn as well. And the fact is that youngsters who are overweight carry that into adulthood 7 with the onset 8 of chronic 9 diseases.

So it's really an investment in the future of this country and frankly 10, I think if we do a good job of looking at creative menus we can reduce the costs.

NGUYEN: Does that include school gardens? Because we know that the first lady is a big proponent 11 of gardening. And I just want to know if schools is in fact do create these school gardens on campus will it produce enough food that can be used within the cafeterias?

VILSACK: Absolutely. We've seen examples of that in our travels across the country. Schools are engaged in these gardening projects which are also great learning experiences for the youngsters. An opportunity, also, to hook up with your local grocery store so that the produce can actually be sold and generate revenue for the schools.

There are a multitude of ways in which we need to focus on this and it also provides physical activity. And we want to see as part of this an increase in wellness and physical education. It's a combination of nutrition and more physical activity that's going to get us over the hump in terms of obesity.

NGUYEN: Yes, but it's also a combination of funding as well isn't it? Because it's going to take money to create these programs and schools have lost a lot of programs because of funding? Is this something that schools can afford and what kind of role will Congress play in this?

VILSACK: Well, the president has made this a priority in his budget that was submitted to Congress. We've asked for an additional billion dollars annually 12 to provide resources to improve the quality and access to these meals.

It's a priority for the president and we're certainly hopeful that we can work with Congress to make it a priority for Congress as well. And we've received indications from leadership that they are certainly supportive.

NGUYEN: One last thing, the first lady says that she hopes to eliminate childhood obesity within a generation. Do you really think that's possible?