Nutrition tops Obamas' traditional Easter egg roll

By Kirsten Krumrey Apr 2, 2010, 5:38 GMT

Washington - The first family's push for Americans to eat healthier foods and exercise more won't be put on hold over the Easter holidays.

When US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle host the traditional White House Easter egg roll on Monday, they plan to make health and wellness central themes of the event.

There will be live music, games and storytelling in addition to the Easter egg roll. All activities will encourage children to lead a healthy and active life and follow first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, a national campaign to fight childhood obesity.

The Easter egg roll on the south lawn of the White House is a tradition dating back to 1878. The event takes its name from a race in which children roll Easter eggs with a long-handled spoon, but that's just one of several events.

Last year 30,000 families - a record number - cavorted on the White House lawn. Most of them won a ticket in a lottery. Some 13,000 hard-boiled eggs were used in the race and in an Easter egg hunt.

The event is expected to attract a similar number of visitors this year. Those lucky enough to attend will receive a brightly painted souvenir solid wooden egg with this year's Easter egg roll logo on one side and Obama's signature on the other.

The wood used to make the eggs comes from a sustainable forestry business. The pink, yellow, purple and green paint is vegetable-oil based. The eggs can also be purchased on the internet for 7.50 dollars each or 26.50 dollars for a set of four.

This year's theme is, Ready, Set, Go! Children age 12 will be playing games designed to promote an active lifestyle. There also will be cooking stations set up on the lawn where cooks will demonstrate how to make and enjoy healthy food.

On Wednesday, the first lady planted her second White House garden, bringing in local schoolchildren again to help and gain experience with healthy vegetables like carrots, chard, cabbage and blueberries.

Michelle Obama recently launched her Let's Move campaign. It aims to lure US children and grownups away from televisions and computers and at the same time get them to reduce the amount of sugary, salty and fatty foods they eat.

At a recent conference of US grocery manufacturers, she reminded representatives of giant food companies like Coca-Cola and Kraft foods of their share of responsibility for a healthy nation. She urged them to step up efforts to produce healthier food and promote it in their advertising.

'We need you not just to tweak around the edges, but to entirely rethink the products that you're offering, the information that you provide about these products and how you market those products to our children,' she said at the conference.

The first lady has highlighted the epidemic of childhood obesity in the US. A study released in March said 7.3 per cent of boys in the US and 5.5 per cent of girls between the ages of 2 to 19 are extremely overweight, which can promote heart disease and diabetes.

Michelle Obama openly admits to having prepared unhealthy food for her family for a long time. When she kicked off the Let's Move campaign, she recalled her earlier days as a working mother in Chicago juggling career and family responsibilities.

'I tell you, there were plenty of times you come home tired. You don't want to hear the kids fuss, and popping something in the microwave or picking up a burger was just heaven,' she said when launching her initiative.

But the family paediatrician pointed out changes in her daughters' weight that Michelle Obama hadn't noticed, and she knew she had to act.

The family started limiting time spent watching television, paid more attention to portion size and started paying closer attention to the amount of sugary drinks the children consumed. She also admitted that it's become easier to follow healthy eating habits since the family moved into the White House.

And what will be on the Obama's table on Easter Sunday? It's officially secret, but insiders say the meal probably won't be without a traditional Easter ham.