Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck joined First Lady Michelle Obama on Friday to combat childhood obesity and celebrate the second anniversary of the Let's Move campaign.
Contestants from Bravo's Top Chef battled it out to prepare healthy, delicious meals, with the help of student sous-chefs. Obama, along with Top Chef Host Tom Colicchio and White House chef Sam Kass, judged the 30-minute competition.
More than one hundred 5th and 6th graders from Nancy Moseley Elementary School in Dallas cheered on the chefs, who made dishes such as farro salad, quinoa, turkey tacos, and homemade apple sauce.
Dallas Cowboys players DeMarco Murray, Miles Austin, and DeMarcus Ware, were on hand to help, and mascot Rowdy revved up the crowd in the gymnasium of Kleberg-Rylie Recreation Center in Dallas.
Obama urged the students to take good nutrition and exercise seriously.
"It's important to eat right, it's important to get exercise, but it's more important to be a good student. All of these things add up,' the first lady said. "It is very hard to focus at school if you don't have good fuel in your body. That is the truth.'
Childhood obesity rates have soared in the past three decades, with nearly one in three children being overweight or obese, according to Let's Move. Those numbers are even higher in African-American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40 percent of children are overweight or obese.
Being overweight can lead to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma.
That is why Mayor Cluck, a physician, and the City of Arlington have supported the Let's Move campaign.
For the past two summers, every 5th grader in Arlington received a pedometer to record their steps as part of the Let's Move with the Mayor. Last year, students walked 8,875,220 steps.
In addition, Cluck has worked with residents across the city to form neighborhood walking groups.
"It's crucial that we get a hold of this issue. Many families do not understand the critical importance of being healthy as a kid,' Cluck said. "Parents can sentence their children to a lifetime of serious diseases, most of which are preventable.'
The cooking challenge resulted in a tie among Top Chef contestants Richard Blais, Fabio Viviani, Jenn Carroll, Spike Mendelsohn, Grayson Schmitz, and Paul Qui.
"The point in our decision is that when you've got great chefs paired with kids who are enthusiastic, and you've got schools that care, everybody is a winner,' Obama said. "And we sent the signal that good food doesn't have to cost a ton of money.'
By Sarah Bahari
Community, Mayor & Council, News