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First Lady Michelle Obama teamed up with athletes, farmers, doctors and the media Tuesday to confront the childhood obesity "epidemic" that affects a staggering one in three American youngsters.

"We're determined to finally take on one of the most serious threats to their future, and that's the epidemic of childhood obesity in America today," the first lady said at the launch of the "Let's Move" campaign.

The initiative aims to rally families, communities, schools, urban planners, politicians and the media to "solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight."

She pointed to the urgency of taking action today, at a time when there are already three times more obese children in the United States than 30 years ago.

Because of obesity and the many illnesses and chronic conditions it spawns, health experts have predicted that this generation of American children could have shorter lifespans than their parents, said TV personality Tiki Barber, a former professional American football star.

American Academy of Pediatrics president Judith Palfrey said she was alarmed at the massive increase in the number of overweight and obese children over the past few decades, thanks to a lack of exercise and a diet heavy on fat and sugar but light on fresh fruits and vegetables.

The United States has landed in the unenviable position of having the highest number of obese children in the developed world, said Palfrey.

Nearly one in five US kids aged six to 19 are obese, which in technical terms mean they have a body mass index -- calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters -- greater than 30.

In health terms, it means they are at greater risk for a whole host of maladies, ranging from high blood pressure to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

"Our military leaders report that obesity is now one of the most common disqualifiers for military service. Economic experts tell us we are spending outrageous amounts of money treating obesity-related conditions," Obama said.

US medical costs associated with excessive weight soared from around 78 billion dollars a year in 1998 to around 147 billion dollars annually in 2006, a study released last year showed.

Will Allen, who has been a farmer for 50 years, said a major culprit was lack of access to good food.

US inner cities, home to many of the nation's poor, are "food deserts," where healthful food is rare and people live on cheaper processed meals "that would not be recognized as being food by our grandmothers," the towering farmer, dressed in a flat cap and tweed sweater, said at the launch.

Among the steps to beat back obesity was a 400-million-dollar investment in a "Healthy Food Financing" initiative to bring grocery stores that sell healthy food to inner cities.

"It wasn't that long ago that I was a working mom... struggling to balance meetings and deadlines and soccer and ballet. And there were some nights when you got home so tired and hungry, and you just wanted to get through the drive-thru because it was quick and it was cheap," Obama admitted.

But she kicked the fast, cheap -- and unhealthy -- habit when the pediatrician for daughters Sasha and Malia warned her to "think about doing things a little bit differently."

Obama outlined several initiatives that will be implemented or reinforced to battle the childhood bulge.

Among them was a 10-billion-dollar investment in the Child Nutrition Act, which sets food standards for what kids eat at school, and a rewards system for schools that offer healthy meals and regular physical education classes.

The first lady has set a healthy example herself by planting a vegetable garden on the White House grounds, which schoolchildren helped to cultivate.

Media groups, including the Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal and Viacom have thrown their weight behind Let's Move, with Disney vowing that every series it produces, including the wildly popular "Hannah Montana" show, will include an episode with a healthy lifestyle theme.

Hours before his wife launched the initiative, President Barack Obama signed an executive memorandum setting up a task force that includes members of his cabinet and other officials, who have 90 days to draw up a master plan to combat the scourge of childhood obesity.

AFP