Michelle Obama Has Quit Smoking

Michelle Obama confirmed Tuesday that her husband has kicked his decades-long smoking habit. At a reporter's luncheon in the Old Family dining room, Michelle Obama said that it has been "almost a year," since her husband has picked up a Kent cigarette.

"It's been a while and I'm very proud of him," she said during an hour-long conversation with reporters and her senior staff to discuss her anti-childhood obesity initiative.
"I haven't poked and prodded. When somebody is doing the right thing, you don't mess with them."

Obama said that she didn't know exactly when the president stopped because "he never smoked a lot."

"I don't have a discussion with him because its always been...it's a personal challenge for him," she said. "Its not something that I can be like 'Have you smoked today, have you smoked today?"

"He has always wanted to stop, our kids are getting to the age where he wants to look them in the face because they want to know, 'You don't smoke do you dad?'" She said. "He wants to be able to say no."

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said later that there is a sort of kick-the-habit support group at the White House--Obama's golfing buddy and trip director Marvin Nicholson also stopped smoking.

The first lady is marking the first anniversary of her Let's Move initiative with a media blitz. Wednesday she'll appear on the "Today Show" and on "Live with Regis and Kelly." She will also travel to Atlanta. She said that the hamburger and kielbasa menu for Sunday's Super Bowl party was appropriate and didn't step on her healthy-eating platform.

"The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit," she said. "Fast food has become the every day meal. "