Michelle Obama in Mexico: Lessons on fighting childhood obesity

Mexico's violent drug war tops the list of Mexican concerns and priorities. But a close second, if the Mexican media is any gauge, is Mexican obesity

As first lady Michelle Obama continues her visit with counterpart Mexico's Margarita Zavala it is not the beheadings or daylight shootings that have dominated their conversations - but the ways in which to empower children

And with Ms. Obama as the face in the fight against childhood obesity in the US, gym class and healthy snacks are likely to be high on their list of talking points

IN PICTURES: Michelle Obama in Mexico

"It's so good that Mrs. Obama is interested in this in the US," says Juan Rivera, the director of the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health at Mexico's National Institute for Public Health. Ms. Zavala, who is well-loved just as Obama is in the US, cares deeply about the subject, too, says Dr. Rivera, even if she isn't the spokesperson of a crisis that Mexico is aggressively tackling. "I hope [Obama's] presence can contribute to a more important role for the first lady here."

Of course Ms. Obama's first international visit unaccompanied by the president - which first included a stop unannounced in Haiti Tuesday - has captivated the public, the way Eleanor Roosevelt's trip to Ireland and England did in 1942. That was the first time any American first lady traveled abroad unaccompanied. Jacqueline Kennedy similarly drew worldwide attention with her 1962 solo trip to India and Pakistan, says Carl Sferrazza Anthony, historian of the National First Ladies' Library in Canton, Ohio

It's not surprising that the daily newspaper El Universal in Mexico ran a spread of all of the dresses that Obama has donned since becoming first lady, and included small shots of the magazine covers she's graced. The level of attention a trip generates usually boosts popularity, says Mr. Anthony, as it did for Jacqueline Kennedy. But he adds, "The thing with Michelle Obama is, I don't know how much farther her stock can go up."

Her packed agenda Wednesday, included a tour of the world-renowned National Museum of Anthropology; a meeting with students and teachers at a low-income elementary school (some of the children danced and did calisthenics in her honor); an address to students at the Universidad Iberoamericana; a meeting with women leaders at the presidential residence; and a late dinner with Zavala and husband Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Want to find out more about childhood nutrition ?

On Thursday she is to meet with US Embassy employees and young Mexican leaders before departing to the US