Michelle Obama ignores Sarah Palin’s ‘dessert’ remarks

First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” anti-obesity campaign, celebrating its first birthday this week, might seem like a post-partisan cause everyone can get behind. After all, about a third of children are either overweight or obese -- and those conditions come with a host of medical risk factors and social stigma.

But as it turns out, everything has a political angle. At a White House luncheon Tuesday, Obama was asked about remarks by Sarah Palin, who said back in December that the first lady did not want people eating dessert.

Obama chose to sidestep the question. She had said several months ago that dessert was “not a right” -- perhaps a fair point, given how many experts (including former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler) say Americans tend to overindulge in excess calories they really don’t need.

That said, some right-wing pundits have come out strong against Obama’s initiative. “Get away from my french fries, Mrs. Obama,” Fox commentator Glenn Beck said last fall. “The first politician that comes up to me with a carrot stick, I’ve got a place for it and it’s not in my tummy.”

Why the negative reactions to Obama’s campaign? Are critics’ concerns justifed or are they just full of empty calories? Post your thoughts below.

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