MASON CITY, IA-The Obama Administration wants to help cure childhood obesity. The goal is to significantly reduce the obesity rate over the next 20 years.
It's a problem being noticed right here at home.
Register Nurse Peggy Davis said, "we weigh and measure children routinely and we see a lot of kids are in the upper percentile."
Childhood obesity is also a nation-wide problem, now the government wants to do something about it.
Michelle Obama said, "for the first time -- this is the key -- we're setting really clear goals and benchmarks and measurable outcomes that will help tackle this challenge one step, one family and one child at a time."
And one of those goals is to boost the rate of breast-feeding moms, because new research says those babies are less likely to become obese children.
Davis, "we really promote breast feeding, we would like more people to breast feed, its natural, babies in control, your in control, less reliance on formula."
Davis thinks its the nutrients and control that makes the difference. Those nutrients are also gathered as kids get older and attend school.
Mason City Food Service Director Mike Carlson said, "that we're consuming the items our body can utilize and need to grow and gain weight in a healthy way especially at the young age."
The plan would have more kids eating subsidized meals at school
Carlson said they really are pushing more nutritious options at school because it's a good place to get them.
Carlson said, "I believe that's the concerted effort by the government to say you know this is one meal we can kind of influence, we cant tell the parents what to serve their children before or after school, but we can control what's happening at school lunch."
Now this plan doesn't come without extra cost. Carlson says that buying fresh fruits and veggies cost quite a bit more per month then canned and frozen.
He says in the long-run it's worth it because it's all about developing a habit they continue with.
