US first lady Michelle Obama will write a book about the kitchen garden she started at the White House and her efforts to promote healthy eating, the Crown publishing group said on March 16.

The as yet untitled book will be published in April 2012, and will see Michelle Obama describing how she was inspired to plant the first edible garden on the White House's South Lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt's World War Two era "victory garden."

She will also share some of her family's favorite healthy recipes, said Crown, a unit of Random House publishers.

Crown said Michelle Obama received no advance and would donate the proceeds to a charity to be determined later.

The book will include photos of Obama's White House garden as well as other community, urban and school gardens around the United States,

The first lady has been a strong advocate of healthy eating and exercise and in February 2010 launched her "Let's Move!" initiative aimed at beating child obesity and improving the quality of food in US schools.