President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Tuesday to support an initiative to fight childhood obesity shaped by First Lady Michelle Obama.

During his remarks today, Obama said childhood obesity is one of the most urgent health issues we face in this country.

The government along with private sector companies, not-for-profit and other organizations will give support to parents to allow their children be more active and eat healthier, Obama said.

Signing the executive order the government is creating a 90-day plan to coordinate the effort.

We think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, Obama said.

The memo states that nearly one-third of American children are overweight or obese, meaning one in three kids are obese.

The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years more than tripled. It increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michelle Obama Barack obama