SAVANNAH, March 2 (AFP) - Days after President Barack Obama was warned during a check-up to avoid high-fat foods because of his elevated cholesterol, he asked onlookers to let him get away with a small indulgence.

"Don't tell Michelle," Obama joked to the press as he held up a plate of rich Southern food at the traditional "Mrs Wilkes' Dining Room" in deepest Georgia.

"I don't want any lectures about my cholesterol," he added.

The menu available to the president included fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, cream corn, BBQ pulled pork, blueberry pudding and banana pudding.

Just a day earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs joked that the president would be saying "No, I won't" to high-fat foods.

On Sunday, Obama underwent a routine medical examination where he learned he needed to "push away from the table when the pie came, more than he had in the previous year," Gibbs said.

At 138 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) of blood, the 48-year-old president's count of low density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, was just outside the expected range, which is between 70-130 mg/dl.

Obama's personal physician Jeffrey Kuhlman said the physical exam indicated that he would remain healthy for the duration of his presidency.

The president was in Savannah, Georgia Tuesday to unveil plans at a local college to give hefty reimbursements to US homeowners who make home improvements designed to conserve energy.

The president urged Congress to approve the plans to give a shot in the arm to the lagging US construction industry -- one of the sectors hardest hit by the economic slump.