Bill Clinton joins American Heart Association's fight against childhood obesity

• Former President Bill Clinton and Arkansas Gov.
• Mike Huckabee joined with the American Heart Association on Tuesday in announcing a campaign to fight soaring rates of childhood obesity that they said could doom youngsters to heart disease, diabetes and shortened lifespans.
• "The truth is that children born today could become part of the first generation in American history to live shorter lives than their parents because so many are eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising enough," Clinton said.
• Estimates are that 16 percent of U.S. children are obese and up to a third are overweight or obese.
• Clinton and Huckabee announced the effort with heart association officials at a school gym in the Washington Heights neighborhood _ around the corner from the hospital where Clinton had heart bypass surgery last year.
• While they described few specific measures, they said they would work with schools, communities, the restaurant and food industry and the media to develop programs and policies designed to encourage healthier food choices and more exercise.
• Clinton has previously devoted his foundation's resources to fighting AIDS in the developing world but he said was drawn to the issue of childhood obesity after his heart surgery.
• "When the American Heart Association approached me about working together to combat heart disease, I wanted to do more than just tape a public service announcement because of what had been done for me and because I had frankly dodged a very big bullet," he said.
• ... They're adjusting to the market and when the marketplace demands healthier choices, they'll be presenting them."
• "You have to get industry involved," said Lisa Altshuler, director of the Kids Weight Down Program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.