First lady Michelle Obama recognizes Patchogue group for fighting childhood obesity

First lady Michelle Obama on Thursday recognized a Patchogue-based early education program for its efforts addressing childhood obesity.

The competition generated 60 entries from social service programs nationwide that competed for three top prizes and seven honorable mention slots.

"Seeing the kids dancing and moving and gobbling down their vegetables, it keeps us going here, but we still have a lot of work to do," Obama said at a White House ceremony, referring to all the videos.

A White House news release touted the Long Island group's programs, noting that they teach "the importance of nutrition and physical activity to reverse the trend of childhood obesity."

"There was a lot of jumping," Burnett said. "Definitely a lot more exercising was going on that day."

"If they have health issues now, the likelihood of developing more problems as an adult are greater," Burnett said. "We want to be able to break that cycle."