Christ raised from the dead is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” we hear in this Sunday’s reading from 1 Corinthians. The large number of children more prone to junk food than fresh fruit and to fall asleep on the couch instead of going for a walk is leading to an epidemic of childhood obesity. Government fitness programs have thus far failed to turn the tide. Now First Lady Michelle Obama will try her hand at it.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to motivate kids to shape up when he created the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 1956. It’s been a losing battle ever since. Childhood obesity has been on the rise in recent decades, with 17 percent of children considered obese and about one in three of all children overweight.

“Efforts like the president’s council have been overwhelmed over the years by trends in society that push kids in the other direction,” said Russell Pate, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina. He cited a “triple whammy”--the advent of video games, the reliance on cars to get around, and the rise of a high-fat, fast-food diet--that undermines a healthy lifestyle for kids.

In announcing her “Let’s Move” campaign Tuesday, Michelle Obama made clear that physical fitness is key to what she’s trying to do and that there is a role for the Eisenhower-era fitness council. Besides getting kids to exercise, the campaign aims to help parents and schools make better food choices and also healthy food more available and affordable.

More than obesity is at stake, according to a new study. Kids drawn to sweeter-than-cola drinks are also more likely to have a family history of alcoholism and depressive symptoms.

“We know that sweet taste is rewarding to all kids and makes them feel good,” said lead researcher Julie Mennella, a developmental psychobiologist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. “In addition, certain groups of children may be especially attracted to intense sweetness due to their underlying biology.”

The results don’t mean a child who likes ultra-sweetened foods will become an alcoholic. They only suggest a link between sweet preference and family members with alcoholism. “At this point, we don’t know whether this higher ‘bliss point’ for sweets is a marker for later alcohol use,” Mennella said.

Source: Jeanna Bryner for LiveScience.com and Frederic J. Frommer for the Associated Press