Lady Michelle Obama Research Articles

Bridging the Gap: The Vital Role of Nursing in Caring for Military Members and Veterans and Their Families.

In 2011, a national call from The White House set in motion an initiative for action called Joining Forces to serve America's military families. This initiative, led by then-First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, was intended to unite public and private sectors to ensure active military service members, veterans, and their families had the educational, employment, and wellness resources they needed to succeed. Although the nursing profession started to respond to this call to action, it was never embraced as a priority. With nearly three million active-duty personnel, nearly one million reservists, more than 18 million veterans, and millions more families of our military and veteran community, it is time for the largest health care workforce to lead the care and wellness of our military and veteran community. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2024;55(5):217-219.].

Diversity in Plastic Surgery and the 2023 US Supreme Court Decision.

The number of publications on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion in plastic surgery has increased exponentially in the last 5 years. Numerous changes have been implemented. On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional. Writing for the majority, Justice Roberts concluded that eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it, and the Equal Protection Clause applies without regard to any differences of race, of color, or of nationality. Justice Thomas authored a concurrence, stating that such policies are contrary to our colorblind constitution and our nation's equality ideal. Justice Sotomayor was joined by Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson in their dissenting opinion that ignoring race will not equalize a society that is racially unequal and that students of various racial backgrounds can offer different perspectives because of that identity. The reaction was largely partisan. Michelle Steel and Young Kim, Republican Asian American Congresswomen from California, lauded the decision, along with Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina. Senate Majority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer opined that the Supreme Court decision has put a "giant roadblock in our country's march toward racial justice." Cory Booker, New Jersey Democrat, called the decision a devastating blow. President Joe Biden and former First Lady Michelle Obama also disagreed with the decision. Profound ramifications across our institutions of higher learning and in medical specialties are likely to follow. Legally, it will be difficult or impossible to defend race-based preferences going forward. This is true regardless of whether such policies were put in place with the best of intentions.

Creative Maladjustment, Progressive Politics, and Humanistic Psychology

In this article, the author gives a personal experiential account of the relationship of Martin Luther King Jr’s formulation of creative maladjustment to progressive politics and humanistic psychology. In particular, the author focuses on what he views as two significant current illustrations of creative maladjustment, which are former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’s concept of “going high” and existential humanistic psychologist Kirk Schneider’s concept of “life-enhancing anxiety.” The author relates these conceptualizations to what he perceives as the alarming dangers both in the world and in the United States from the horrific possibilities of nuclear war, climate devastation, and the destruction of U.S. democracy. More specifically, the author focuses on what he views as the disastrous possibility of Donald Trump becoming President of the United States in 2024. The author discusses all of this in relation to the core principles of humanistic psychology and to progressive political grass roots actions, and shares some of his own relevant experiences in this regard.

Parliamentary Dress

Parliamentary Dress

Health Messaging and the Black Community: Analysis of Rhetoric in Michelle Obama’s Social Media’s Posts Announcing Her COVID-19 Vaccination Status

COVID-19 data reveal that the pandemic caused chaos for all, but the Black community repeatedly saw elevated rates of infection and high mortality rates. After COVID-19 vaccines were developed, dissemination and uptake within the Black community lacked. It was abundantly clear that the Black community’s large distrust of the medical establishment was a barrier to successfully rolling out COVID-19 vaccines. Former First Lady Michelle Obama, received her vaccine and posted a captioned image across all of her social media platforms. Her posts functioned as a health promotion tool. Therefore, to grasp the importance of Blackness and Black culture as it relates to communication, we utilize the Culture-Centered Approach as a lens to analyze the rhetoric of Michelle Obama’s vaccination posts. We argue that not only did Michelle Obama use her social position as former First Lady and a Black woman to connect with the Black community when she posted about receiving the vaccine, but we also highlight the unique communicative choices present in the posts that are rooted in Blackness.

Breath Stable Isotope Analysis Serves as a Non-invasive Analytical Tool to Demonstrate Dietary Changes in Adolescent Students Over Time.

Concern about adolescent diets, obesity, and the associated health risks have been growing in the United States. This inspired former First Lady Michelle Obama to spearhead the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA), which made changes to the national school lunch program by increasing servings of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Our study examined the variability of student carbohydrate sources throughout the day and before and after the implementation of HHFKA using a stable isotope dietary biomarker. This method uses carbon stable isotope values of exhaled CO2 breath (δ13Cbreath) and provides a quantitative, non-invasive measure. δ13Cbreath samples were collected throughout the day from students (n = 31) that attended a public high school in Salt Lake City, UT. δ13Cbreath measurements reflected the short-term carbohydrate inputs from the previous meal. Carbohydrate sources were not consistent throughout the day; most students had their lowest inputs of corn/sugar-based carbohydrates after lunch. We compared our results with an earlier study that had been conducted pre-HHFKA. After-lunch δ13Cbreath values decreased significantly between the two time points, suggesting an increase in whole grain, fruit, and vegetable carbohydrates in the lunch program. Our results demonstrated that δ13Cbreath measurements provide a valuable tool to examine carbohydrate sources in an individual's diet throughout the day. We believe that this tool could be beneficial to studies examining the relationship between sugar sweetened beverages, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates and health outcomes like diabetes and obesity in both adolescent and adult populations.

First person profile: Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel, MD, PhD: Bioethics pioneer leads multiple efforts to improve US and global health care.

First person profile: Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel, MD, PhD: Bioethics pioneer leads multiple efforts to improve US and global health care.

Four Psychiatrists Pen Open Letter to Former First Lady Michelle Obama

Four Psychiatrists Pen Open Letter to Former First Lady Michelle Obama

Why We Love Michelle: Understanding Public Support for First Lady Michelle Obama

After eight years as the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama left the White House beloved in the eyes of many Americans. Being well liked by Americans is not in and of itself an unusual phenomenon for first ladies. What is remarkable about the love so many Americans expressed toward First Lady Michelle Obama is that she was able to maintain high favorable evaluations through a period of political, social, and electoral acrimony that made high approval ratings for national political figures increasingly unlikely. By drawing on a wealth of aggregate data drawn from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research archives and individual-level public opinion data drawn from the 2012 American National Election Studies survey as well as original survey data, this article identifies several important forces behind Michelle Obama's popularity.

Landscape discourses and community garden design: creating community gardens in one mid-sized southern US city

In 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama established a White House Kitchen Garden, echoing Roosevelt’s Victory Garden created in the Second World War. Far more extensive than First Lady Hillary Rodham Cl...

Food Fraud and the Partnership for a ‘Healthier’ America: A Case Study in State-Corporate Crime

At a moment of heightened public concern over food-related health issues, major corporations in the food industry have found their products and practices under scrutiny. Needing to be understood as socially responsible, these corporations have established partnerships with the state to construct a positive, proactive, and cooperative public image. One major public–private partnership that evolved from former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative—the Partnership for a Healthier America—serves as a case study in this paper, which analyzes the consequences and social harms perpetuated by a public health campaign bound by the imperative to maximize profit. By using trusted state actors to deliver accurate but deceptive claims about food companies’ commitment to public health, this public–private partnership actively misleads the public and potentially exacerbates public health challenges, warranting a skeptical revision of how we understand corporate social responsibility and neoliberal governance on issues of health and nutrition. As a form of fraud, these attempts to mislead the public go beyond the actions of public sector individuals or members of corporate boards, but are structurally incentivized by the legal rights, regulatory privileges, and profit-related incentives central to the modern corporate form. While conventional criminological research tends to underemphasize state and corporate harms, we make use of a critical criminological perspective to analyze state-corporate partnerships in the space between food industry practices and public health policy.

Sudden death on the playing field: Can we prevent it?

From the ancient Greek Olympics to the high school gymnasium, competitive sports have become an increasingly important part of human culture. At an early age, children around the world are introduced and encouraged into sports by their parents and peers. For some, playing sports becomes a regular part of life even as they enter adulthood. The medical profession has always been encouraging of physical activity. With the rising obesity epidemic, even the recent Obama administration, spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama, started a campaign called “Let’s Move” to promote exercise among our children. Regular physical activity has been shown to improve many markers of health and can ward off diseases fraught with high morbidity and mortality, like diabetes and obesity. However, as the intensity level of sports increases, there remains controversy as to the advantages of certain vigorous forms of exercise. In rare but dramatic circumstances, young athletes can experience sudden cardiac death on the playing field. There are some evidence-based guidelines to help the cardiologist manage the young athlete before they step foot onto the playing field, but major differences exist in different countries as to how this evidence is interpreted and how cost-effectiveness plays a role.

Public health framing and attribution: Analysis of the first lady’s remarks and news coverage on childhood obesity

AbstractFirst Lady Michelle Obama’s public health promotion “Let’s Move” seeks to place children on a path to better health by giving families access to health education and fostering healthier environments. We examined the use of public health framing and attribution of responsibility in the First Lady’s remarks and newspaper articles reporting on childhood obesity. We coded the Whitehouse.gov website for remarks made by the First Lady regarding the childhood obesity prevention program “Let’s Move.” Of the 103 remarks coded, 35% of the remarks used public health framing. The First Lady’s remarks attributed responsibility and solutions for the childhood obesity crisis in terms of environmental factors, rather than individual factors. Using the same themes, we coded a sample of 260 articles that reported on “Let’s Move” specifically or childhood obesity generally, published during the same time period as the First Lady’s remarks. Approximately 20% of the articles used public health framing and similarly at...

Why Wi-Fi stinks - and how to fix it

Ask consumers in the developed world about their household Wi-Fi connection and they'll likely tell you that lately it seems to be getting worse, not better. Some might even say,“It stinks! Even the residents of the White House have Wi-Fi problems. In an interview with the BBC just before Super Bowl 50, First Lady Michelle Obama complained, It can be a little sketchy. The girls are just irritated by it.

“I Serve 2”: Meeting the needs of military children in civilian practice

The American Academy of Nursing launched the “Have You Ever Served in the Military?” campaign in 2013 in conjunction with the Joining Forces campaign spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The “Have You Ever Served in the Military?” campaign provides guidance and resources for nurses outside the Military Health System and Veterans Health Administration where upwards of 80% of veterans receive care. However, most military personnel do not serve alone. More than half of the 2.2 million active duty, National Guard, and Reserve service members currently serving in the armed forces have families and many military children experience stress and anxiety secondary to parental military service. Although strides have been made to improve identification and treatment of the visible and invisible wounds of war for service members, little to no information exists regarding the impact parental service has on the physical, psychological, and behavioral health of military children. In addition, there is no mechanism in place to identify military children in civilian practice nor resources providing evidence-based best practices when caring for these children.

“He’s not heavy, he’s an anchor baby”: Fat children, failed futures, and the threat of Latina/o excess

ABSTRACTThis article examines how First Lady Michelle Obama’s Latina/o-focused speeches, as part of the Let’s Move! campaign, intersect with anti-immigrant rhetoric and reproduce discourses characterizing Latinas as “bad” mothers. This discourse renders Latina/o children contingent citizens whose potential place in the nation-state depends on their “achievement” of an acceptably sized body as well as their future utility to the nation-state in the form of military service. Latina/o children’s failure in this state-backed/mandated weight-loss project shifts the discourse of future citizenship to one of threat to the nation-state. In applying conceptual frames from fat studies to discourse regarding Latinas/os, this article connects anti-fat and anti-Latina/o immigrant discourse, exploring how discursive constructions of excess shape idea(l)s of belonging and citizenship.

A template for building global partnerships: The Joining Forces conference goes across the Atlantic from the US to the UK

Joining Forces is a comprehensive national initiative within the United States to mobilize all sectors of society to give service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned. This national initiative begun in April 2012 was led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden.The Joining Forces initiative is charged with enhancing the well-being and psychological health of the military family by providing mental health care services, integrating community-based services to reduce homelessness, substance abuse for veterans and military families. This manuscript addresses how one university with its global partners joined together to host an innovative conference addressing the research, education, and practice needs of healthcare professionals caring for military, veterans, and their families.

Web Alert

Lids on Kids http://www.lidsonkids.org/ Description: Lids on Kids is a web site dedicated to promoting the use of helmets in adolescent skiers and snowboarders and is a good resource to direct parents who are resistant to the idea of putting a helmet on their child while on the ski slopes. Content includes FAQs, articles supporting the use of ski helmets, helmet-fitting instructions, and general information on ski and snowboard safety. Lids on Kids is a campaign of the National Ski Areas Association. Cost: Free Let’s Move http://www.letsmove.gov/ Description: Let’s Move is a nationwide initiative to combat childhood obesity driven by First Lady Michelle Obama. The web site offers a wealth of information for parents and the general community on the scope of the problem of childhood obesity, nutrition and exercise guidance, and tools to facilitate and implement change. Providers will find value in the patient education resources such as a childhood obesity fact sheet that can be placed in waiting rooms, located in the “Resources” section of the “Learn the Facts Tab,” and the healthier living prescription form they can complete with patients, located in the “Health Care Providers” section of the “Take Action” tab. Cost: Free Musculoskeletal Magnetic Resonance Imaging http://www.freitasrad.net/ Description: Musculoskeletal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a free educational resource for providers both in training and in practice. MRI (including sagittal, axial, and coronal cuts) of most of the major regions of the body is labeled for easy identification of anatomical structures. Images of a shoulder MR arthrogram also are included. Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of different MR protocols also is provided. Furthermore, the web site is accessible on an iPad®, making this a convenient office reference. Cost: Free American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine http://www.aium.org Description: This is the home web site of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM). This site provides free access to all of the AIUM guidelines including that for musculoskeletal ultrasound. Physician training guidelines, official statements, and special communications also are provided for free. Case-based self-assessments, video tutorials, and access to a musculoskeletal ultrasound online community can be obtained with membership and/or a fee. AIUM accreditation applications also can be submitted on the site. Cost: Free and paid resources Athletes and the Arts http://athletesandthearts.com Description: This is the home web site of Athletes and the Arts, an organization raising awareness of the unique medical needs of performing artists. The site provides free patient handouts and information on topics such as auditory and oral health, nutrition and hydration, and wellness. Topics also are organized into discipline-specific sections. Information on upcoming conferences and events also is provided. The American College of Sports Medicine is a founding sponsor of Athletes and the Arts. Cost: Free

The Michelle Obama influence: an exploration of the first lady’s fashion, style, and impact on women

AbstractGiven keen national interest in the fashion sense of First Lady Michelle Obama, few studies have examined the appeal of the first lady’s style and if her example influences women to modify their styles and shopping behaviors. To address this paucity in the research, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of Michelle Obama’s apparel choices on women. To address this purpose, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with women who follow Michelle Obama’s fashion and rated her style as appealing. Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed three themes: (1) relating through authenticity, (2) permission to defy norms, and (3) brands and the impression of endorsement. Findings reveal that Michelle Obama’s apparel choices make her relatable to everyday women. Participants noted that the first lady’s fashion choices gave them permission to challenge fashion norms for women, and adjust their personal styles. Lastly, several retail brands were thought of more positively by participants, given Michelle Obama’s implied endorsement.

Book Review: Media and the Rhetoric of Body Perfection: Cosmetic Surgery, Weight Loss and Beauty in Popular Culture, by Deborah Harris-Moore

Media and Rhetoric of Body Perfection: Cosmetic Surgery, Weight Loss and Beauty in Popular Culture. Deborah Harris-Moore. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate, 2014. 210 pp. $109.95 hbk. $109.95 ebk-pdf. $109.95 ebk-ePUB.It is no secret that society today is obsessed with bodies-thin, fat, pale, tan, wrinkled, and not-so-wrinkled. It is also no secret that a big business exists making fat bodies become thin bodies, pale bodies become tanned bodies, and wrinkled faces become less wrinkled faces or better yet-never wrinkled faces in first place. Deborah HarrisMoore studied these ideas as part of her dissertation at University of Arizona and has extended this investigation into this volume. Currently a lecturer at University of California-Santa Barbara's Writing Program, Harris-Moore calls society's obsession with bodies and business surrounding exactness of changing one's body, the rhetoric of perfection. As title implies, book examines weight loss, cosmetic surgery, governmental involvement in reinforcing pop culture ideas of beauty, as well as institutionalization of these Western ideals in popular films and television programs in first five chapters. chapter preceding her conclusion investigates documentaries and modification. Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Susan Bordo are used heavily throughout as theoretical foundations in volume.Harris-Moore brings a unique perspective to this discussion. In Preface, she discusses her own cosmetic surgery and past battle with eating disorders: The many chapters of this book focus mainly on mass media and popular culture representations, but my own experience serves as lens through which I read these texts. It is perhaps this statement that is most telling for reader because each chapter in book allows Harris-Moore's own experience to color her writing throughout book. Her experiences added a unique perspective to each chapter whether she was evaluating a film, a television program, a documentary, First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, how medical professionals interacted with patients/consumers, or even ease of accessibility to CareCredit for financing cosmetic surgery.The author's personal experiences were especially intriguing. For example, HarrisMoore posits that physicians are presented as gatekeepers of perfect body on reality show Swan. As a physician assumes role of a gatekeeper, physician is more likely to recommend additional surgeries than patient actually wanted or needed. Thus, patient is likely to feel pressured into accepting additional surgeries. According to author, this is exactly what she experienced. She entered cosmetic surgeon's office for a consultation about a septoplasty and ended up with not only septoplasty, but also a rhinoplasty and a chin implant:The irony of course, is that my chin was one of only parts I have never critiqued or even noticed before my first consultation. …