Jackson Free Press

First lady Michelle Obama made Clinton her first stop on a two-day tour promoting her signature Let's Move anti-obesity program. Her reasoning? Mississippi's obesity rate for elementary-school children has dropped by 13.3 percent since her last visit three years ago.

"What's happening here in Mississippi is really what 'Let's Move' is all about," she told the audience Wednesday afternoon.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta still ranks Mississippi as the fattest state in the nation; however, the state has taken steps to address the problem at its roots.

"It's the story of what you all have achieved here that we want to tell. It's the story we want to be telling in every state all across this country," Obama said.

The state Department of Education has set new standards for food and drinks in school vending machines, for example, and schools are serving more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Some schools, including those in Clinton, have made substantive changes in cooking methods. Obama noted that many have replaced fryers with steamers, to which the first lady exclaimed, "Hallelujah."

"So there's no reason why this success can't happen in cities and states all across the country--if we're willing to work for it," Obama said. "So now is the time for us to truly double down on these efforts. We know what works. We're seeing it right here. We know how to get results. Now we just need to keep stepping up."

Food Network celebrity Rachael Ray joined Obama in Clinton, and the women joined 20 students from Clinton's Northside and Eastside elementary schools to taste the results of a cook-off that teamed school chefs Wendy Robinson and Fannie Collins with celebrity chefs Sunny Anderson and Ryan Scott, reports the Clinton News. On the menu were two types of fajitas and a fruit smoothie from one team, turkey sloppy Joes with quinoa patties, fruit salad and broccoli trees from the other.

"If these kids are eating like this every day," Ray said, "I'm coming to lunch here," Mrs. Obama added.

On the menu for the other 400 children in the audience were apples, and hummus with celery and carrot sticks.

The schools held the chef cook-off for Ray's TV show, where the winner will be revealed March 11.

"The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake," Obama said when she launched the Let's Move program in 2010.

For more information, visit the Let's Move website.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.