title: Changing diabetes by changing lives: programs to reduce disparities in health.
abstract: First Lady Michelle Obama has taken on the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. And who could be a more perfect candidate to confront a leading contributor to our country's soaring medical costs? Obama is an athletic woman with real curves and a member of a minority group with high rates of chronic conditions like asthma, hypertension, and diabetes. She has two young girls who are exposed, like their peers, to a barrage of messages from the junk food industry. And when she was a working mom, she relied on fast food and pizza to feed her kids, who were growing chubby until a doctor suggested she rethink their meals and exercise routines.
authors.affiliation: lisa@nahc.org
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yarkony
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology