First Lady Michelle Obama in Des Moines.

Around 10,000 school kids packed Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines this morning for an event featuring First Lady Michelle Obama.

Her stop in Iowa started a four-state swing to celebrate the second anniversary of the launch of her “Let’s Move” initiative.

Mrs. Obama asked for the kids’ help to make Iowa and all of the states the “healthiest they can be.”
Audio First Lady :20

The nearly two-hour long event closed with the First Lady and everyone in the arena performing the Interlude Dance. The Interlude has become a dance craze at the University of Northern Iowa – with fans and students performing the dance during basketball games.

World figure skating champion Michelle Kwan and NASCAR champ Carl Edwards talk to kids in preparation for the First Lady's event in Des Moines event.

Around 10,000 school kids have packed Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for an event featuring First Lady Michelle Obama. She’s in Iowa starting a four-state swing to celebrate the second anniversary of the launch of her “Let’s Move” initiative.

The kids are hearing from the likes of Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and I.S.U. basketball coach Fred Hoiberg about the importance of physical activity. They’re also being entertained by American Idol Season 9 finalist Katelyn Epperly.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also spoke – asking the kids to insist their schools offer healthy lunch and breakfasts.

“So we can improve what you eat at schools because we want more fruits and vegetables and more whole grains and low fat dairy in your diet. And less fat, and less sodium and less sugar, so that you can be healthy and active and the very best students you are intended to be,” Vilsack told the kids.

Mrs. Obama will be speaking soon and will be introduced by Governor Branstad, who is leading an effort to make Iowa the Healthiest state in the nation by 2016.

Linda Kalin, director of the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, says calls concerning products such as “bath salts” or “K-2″ having been on the rise. She said in August 2010, the center received zero calls about those items.

That’s compared to 30 calls about people being hospitalized after using the drugs in December 2011. Kalin is scheduled to deliver a presentation about synthetic drugs before the state’s Drug Policy Advisory Council this afternoon.

Kalin told Radio Iowa that most people, by now, have probably heard about the physical and psychological dangers of using K-2 or bath salts. She credits the marketing practices of the drug manufacturers for the continued uptick in abuse.

“These are marketed as ‘legal marijuana’ or ‘legal highs,’ even though many states have banned them or are in the process of banning them,” Kalin said. “Never the less, when you start to slap labels that say ‘plant food, bath salts, herbal incense, potpourri, marijuana-like substance’ – that’s not at all implying how dangerous these really are.”

Products such as K-2 are now illegal in Iowa, so – for the most part – they can’t be found in stores. “Unfortunately, the Internet is a whole different story,” Kalin said. “The purchase of these can be made through a number of websites throughout the world and they give direct delivery to the purchaser.”

The substances are said to produce a high similar to meth or cocaine, but Kalin said the chemicals used to produce K-2 or bath salts can vary from one package to another. So, while one user may not experience a high, another user could have hallucinations, become violent or have a seizure.

“Let’s Move was born from a simple idea that each of us has a responsibility to give our children the healthy future they deserve,” Mrs. Obama said in a video posted on the White House website. Just last week, Michelle Obama went on The Ellen Show to talk about the initiative to encourage children to lead healthier lives.

Michelle Obama’s visit to Des Moines is an invitation-only event, but nearly 10,000 Iowa school children have been invited. Governor Branstad will also be on hand. He’s leading a project with the goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by 2016. Mrs. Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks at 11:15 a.m.

Some of the other guests and performers at the “Let’s Move Day in Iowa” event include:

* Former Iowa Governor and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

* NASCAR racing champion Carl Edwards

* Olympic figure skating champion Michelle Kwan

* Olympic champion gymnast Shawn Johnson

* 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings

* Iowa State University Basketball coach Fred Hoiberg

* The Norwalk Show Choir

* The Southeast Polk High School Kick Team

* West Des Moines Valley High School Competition Cheerleaders

* West Des Moines Valley High School a cappella singing group

* Elite Edge Dance Company

* Storm Chasers Cheerleaders

* Iowa Skippers

* Waukee a cappella singing group

* University of Iowa Breakers

* American Idol’s Katelyn Epperly

* The Isiserettes

* The UNI Interlude creators

Aerial view shows the parking ramp in front of U-I Hospitals that will be replaced by the new children's hospital.

Designers gave the Board of Regents an update Monday on the plans for the new children’s hospital at the University of Iowa.

The plan calls for removing a parking ramp at the front entrance of the main hospital and putting the new children’s facility in its place.

Architect Kim Stanley says the new building will be just east of Kinnick Stadium, where Iowa plays football. “I’d say hands down this is a once in lifetime kind of site for a children’s hospital, adjacent to the stadium as it is, it will be a big crowd pleaser inside the hospital,” Stanley says.

She says the existing parking ramp has been an impediment to letting light into the hospital and removing it will open up the entire layout of the facility.

An architect's rendition of the new children's hospital building. It's the oval at the right.

Two floors of the $285-million children’s hospital will be underground, but the rest will rise up and give views to the west.

“So everything basically above the fourth floor will actually have views into the stadium, which I think will be a very exciting component of the children’s hospital,” Stanley says.

The building will have 11 floors above ground, but she says it is designed in an oval shape and positioned to give it more of a human scale that doesn’t appear to be so large.

 ”But also, buildings of this size create somewhat of a microclimate around them, and we wanted to make sure the prevailing winds moved fluidly around this form, and so the shape of the oval does facilitate that, and it also does certainly allow more natural light into the building,” Stanley explains.

Construction is scheduled to begin on the new building in October and it is expected to be open by 2016.

Sam Kass

The assistant White House chef who is coordinator of the first lady’s food initiatives says Michele Obama’s trip to Iowa later this week is intended as a salute, a celebration and, hopefully, an inspiration to Iowa kids. 

As you may know, the first lady launched an initiative aimed at America’s kids, to promote healthy eating habits and encourage exercise. The goal is to end childhood obesity within a generation. Over 10,000 Iowa kids are expected in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Thursday to see First Lady Michele Obama and participate in “Let’s Move Day” in Iowa.

Sam Kass is the first lady’s chef and chief assistant in the nationwide “Let’s Move” effort.  During a telephone interview with Radio Iowa early this morning, Kass said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s “Healthiest State Initiative” is the reason Obama’s coming.

“We want to celebrate the great work that’s going on there, show how the country’s really unifying around these issues: trying to ensure that our kids and our communities are as healthy as they can be,” Kass said.

Republican Terry Branstad has been a vocal critic of Obama Administration policies, but on this particular issue he’s in harmony with Mrs. Obama.

“We share the goal of a healthier nation and people taking ownership of their own health,” Branstad said.

Private companies in Iowa are participating in the governor’s “Healthiest State” iniatitive, along with hundreds of individual Iowans who’ve signed up for this winter’s “Live Healthy, Iowa” 100-day weight-loss challenge. Kass, the chef in the White House, suggests one way to live healthier is to buy local.

“In Iowa, I know there’s great work being done to try to produce more food and more vegetables for Iowans to eat and, you know, we think that’s great,” Kass said. “But every community is going to have to step back and take a look at what’s happening around them and figure out what are the best solutions.”

AUDIO of Radio Iowa’s five-minute interview of Sam Kass.

Kass helped plan and plant the White House garden. From that garden experience, Kass understands kids can play a role in improving their family’s approach to food.

“When they dug up a carrot, they ended up taking it home and saying, ‘Mom, dad, let’s have some carrots tonight.’ When a kid’s asking for that, you can’t say, ‘No,’” Kass said. “We’ve kept in touch with these kids and they telling us how they’re eating (differently) in their home…They’re baking the chicken instead of frying it. That’s the true power and essense of all that we’re doing here.”

Thursday’s “Let’s Move” party in Wells Fargo Arena will feature some notable sports figures, like skater Michele Kwan, gymnast Shawn Johnson and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. TV star Bob Harper — one of the trainers on “The Biggest Loser” — will be there, as will Iowa State basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, a former player in the NBA. Kass hopes Thursday’s event will be a motivating experience for the more than 10,000 sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth graders who’ll participate.

“I honestly believe, and I know the first lady does as well, that kids who are stepping up and making changes and being leaders in their communities is maybe our greatest tool in overcoming some of these challenges,” Kass said.

Kass has been involved in behind-the-scenes discussions about federal strategies that could improve the health of America’s children.

“Just two weeks ago, the first lady celebrated the finalizing of the new standards for school lunch and they’ve been raised for the first time in 15 years,” Kass said. “These new standards are going to be transformative to the food that kids are being served every day. Thirty-two million kids every day eat breakfast and lunch — or some combination — in our schools, so knowing that our kids are going to school eating the best food possible is just critical.”

The new standards call for doubling the amount of fruits and vegetables served in school cafeterias and cutting in half the sodium content in school lunches. Kids can still drink chocolate milk, but it has to be skim — fat-free — milk.

State Health Department director, Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, explains their decision to appeal. “The appeal is because we feel (the ruling) doesn’t address the birth of children to other married couples, or couples who conceive in alternate ways. And then further, there were concerns about the paternity language currently in the code and if that needs to be addressed by the Supreme Court or through the legislative process,” Miller-Meeks says.

The Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2009, and the Polk County ruling said the state should have interpreted that ruling as allowing the two women to be listed as parents on the child’s birth certificate. The Polk County ruling did not say that same-sex parents have a constitutional right to be listed as parents on birth certificates.

Miller-Meeks says the language of the law has not changed, and they want clarification from the Supreme Court on how to handle the paternity in these cases. “Paternity is established as the father or if it’s a married couple, as the male in a couple, that determines paternity,” Miller-Meeks says.

“In other situations where there is a same-sex couple, then paternity is easily overturned, and so the issue then becomes who has responsibility for the child. So addressing those issues which have not been addressed would be beneficial.”

Melissa Gartner and Heather Gartner of Des Moines brought the lawsuit against the state in this case.

Scott McIntyre, spokesman for the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA), says the health care industry in Iowa is growing – in part – because of the state’s aging population.

“We have a disproportionately old population here in Iowa…folks over 65 and folks over 85 and they do use more health care than younger people do,” McIntyre said. The economic impact report from the IHA claims Iowa’s health care sector directly or indirectly provide more than 333,000 jobs in the state.

“That’s equal to about 20% of the state’s total employment,” McIntyre said. “It’s not just hospitals that create all these opportunities and this huge economic impact across the state. It’s also doctor’s offices, dentists, other practitioners, pharmacies and nursing homes.”

The report states Iowa hospital employees by themselves spend $1.7 billion on retail sales and contribute more than $104 million in state sales tax revenue.

See the full report here: www.ihaonline.org/infoservices/econimpact/econimpact.shtml

“Nationwide, heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women but here in Iowa, it’s actually dropped, so it’s #2 here, which is great,” Callahan says. “We’re leading the way and with the governor’s initiative to become the healthiest state in the nation, there’s a lot of resources out there for people right now. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to move more, eat better and be healthier.”

Callahan says heart disease is an especially great threat to Iowa’s women. “A lot of people don’t realize, in fact, just one in six women know that heart disease is her biggest health threat,” she says. “Eighty-percent of heart attacks in women are preventable so we’re really trying to work towards getting women to make healthier choices.”

Events are underway in many Iowa locations this month to promote heart health. Learn more at “heart.org“.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

“If you look at most private sector (companies), employees pay at least 20 percent,” Branstad says. “Some pay more than that and, obviously, if you’re a farmer or self-employed, you pay 100 percent.”

For the second year in a row, Republican legislators have proposed requiring all 45,000 state employees, including legislators, pay $200 per month toward their health care coverage. Branstad says that’s unlikely to happen as it would require re-opening union contract negotiations. He suggests legislators should pass his alternative plan this year.

“I do think it would make sense for those of us that are elected officials and legislators to pay at least 20 percent of our health insurance,” Branstad says. “I think we could lead by example by doing something like that.”

According to Branstad, 84 percent of state employees — and that includes him and legislators — currently pay nothing toward their health insurance.

“I think that’s just and that needs to be corrected,” Branstad says, “and I want to do what I can to see that that happens.”

According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, U.S. citizens who received health care coverage through a private employer in 2006 paid nearly $3000 out of their own pockets to cover over a third of the premium costs.