As Mayor Bloomberg went out of his way today to remind us how fat we all are, his proposed large sugary drink ban continues to get mixed and cagey responses. The latest to chime in was no less than the First Lady of the United States of America, who told the AP that while she isn't exactly for it, she isn't exactly against it either. Hey, it's an election year!

In an interview with the AP, Michelle Obama said that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution for the country's health challenges. Asked about Bloomberg's plan in particular she said that "We applaud anyone who's stepping up to think about what changes work in their communities. New York is one example." She then went on to say that, regarding taking an aggressive approach to fight nation's obesity epidemic, "There are people like Mayor Bloomberg who are, and that is perfectly fine."

But, considering the political climate, she quickly backtracked a bit:

In a statement later, Mrs. Obama said she hadn't intended to weigh in on the Bloomberg plan "one way or the other."

"I was trying to make the point that every community is different and every solution is different and that I applaud local leaders including mayors, business leaders, parents, etc., who are taking this issue seriously and working towards solving this problem."

"But this is not something the administration is pursuing at a federal level and not something I'm specifically endorsing or condemning," she said.

Meanwhile, in a push to further public support for his ban plan (which right now only polls above 50 percent in Manhattan) Bloomberg today put out a release with a bunch of other pols on the horrible dangers of obesity, which they say kills 5,800 New Yorkers annually and is "the only public health issue in America that is getting worse."

So what's the Bloomberg administration doing about it? Well, he's got a Task Force on Obesity, co-chaired by Deputy Mayor Gibbs and Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway. And that task force has launched a set of initiatives seeking to, over the next five years, do the following:


Reduce the percent of NYC adults who are obese by 10 percent (23. 4 percent to 21. 1 percent).

Reduce the percent of children (K-8th grade) who are obese by 15 percent (20. 7 percent to 17. 6 percent).

Reduce the percent of adult New Yorkers who: consume one or more sugary drinks per day by 30 percent (30. 3 percent to 21. 2 percent); consume no servings of fruits and vegetables in the previous day by 30 percent (11. 6 percent to 8. 1 percent); and report no physical activity in the past 30 days by 15 percent (27. 3 percent to 23. 3 percent).



And you know what would make that last goal easier? A ban on large sugary drinks, of course. After all, it is always easier to force people to do what you want, right?