First Lady Brings "Let's Move" Campaign To Philadelphia

By Pat Loeb and Anne-Marie Green,

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - First Lady Michelle Obama was in Philadelphia on Wednesday to campaign - but not for her husband. She was promoting her effort to end childhood obesity.

There is no question that obesity is an important issue, accounting for as much as 10 percent of U.S. healthcare spending. Not to mention the terrible toll it takes on patients themselves. But it would be unlikely to have drawn a crowd to the Lenfest Police Athletic League Center in Hunting Park without Mrs. Obama.

"I am thrilled to announced these groundbreaking commitments to support the work you all are doing to build healthy communities for all of our children," said the First Lady.

The first lady announced the creation of a "Play Streets" program that would have cities shut down certain streets to traffic so children can play.

Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" campaign got funding commitments from Blue Cross and Robert Wood Johnson and ground level action pledges from 12 mayors who joined her here. Lenfest Center regular Tempest Bowden was impressed.

"It's about time somebody comes in to try to make a difference in the cities because a lot of people do a lot of talking but no action," she said.