The federal government is spending $143,000 on “intervention” efforts to get Mexican-American women and their daughters talking with each other about obesity.

Now, this may seem crazy to you, but the National Institute of Health, which is sponsoring (read: using your tax dollars to sponsor) the program, insists that it “is imperative that intervention studies address weight management among Mexican-American women, a group disproportionately affected by obesity,” according to a grant for the study, as cited in the Washington Free Beacon.

“Promoting communication that facilitates healthy eating and physical activity could help build an interpersonal environment that supports weight management among mothers and daughters,” it continues

Yep. We’ve just got to get people talking about how obesity is bad, and about how exercising and not eating garbage are good. After all, this very groundbreaking, not at all obvious information that I’m sure most people don’t already know!

The project will offer “communication training” to help the mothers and daughters discuss these subjects. (After all, who better to tell you how you should be talking to your kid about sensitive issues than the federal government?) It will also track participants’ weight and “weight-related behaviors.” It will continue through December 2020.

— Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.