Health & Medicine
18 States Show Signs of Declining Childhood Obesity
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Aug 06, 2013 02:12 PM EDT
A recent government report shows that childhood obesity rates have fallen in 18 states among low-income preschoolers.
As previous national statistics have shown that obesity rates have been continuously rising for decades, some states, including New York City, Philadelphia and even Mississippi have been noticing improvements. Yet, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a wider-range of improvements seem to be coming along in a number of states.
"Now, for the first time, we're seeing a significant decrease in childhood obesity" nationally, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director, via USA Today.
Yet the CDC still shows that as many as 1 in 8 preschoolers in the United States are obese, and this tends to be even more common in black and Hispanic children.
These children are up to five more times likely to become obese, according to the CDC, and develop certain health problems, including high cholesterol and blood sugar, asthma and even mental health problems.
The new study looked at data from measurements of both the height and weight of nearly 12 million low-income children in 40 states. These children were ages 2, 3 and 4. Most were enrolled in the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that provides food vouchers and other services.
However, researchers who made up the report were unable to determine if the same trend would apply to children in affluent families as it was harder to collect information from programs they had attended.
Another signs researchers noted via the study regarding health improvements was that breast-feeding rates had been increasing and those fed through breast milk tended to be at a lower risk for obesity.
More information regarding the report can be seen here.
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First Posted: Aug 06, 2013 02:12 PM EDT
A recent government report shows that childhood obesity rates have fallen in 18 states among low-income preschoolers.
As previous national statistics have shown that obesity rates have been continuously rising for decades, some states, including New York City, Philadelphia and even Mississippi have been noticing improvements. Yet, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a wider-range of improvements seem to be coming along in a number of states.
"Now, for the first time, we're seeing a significant decrease in childhood obesity" nationally, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director, via USA Today.
Yet the CDC still shows that as many as 1 in 8 preschoolers in the United States are obese, and this tends to be even more common in black and Hispanic children.
These children are up to five more times likely to become obese, according to the CDC, and develop certain health problems, including high cholesterol and blood sugar, asthma and even mental health problems.
The new study looked at data from measurements of both the height and weight of nearly 12 million low-income children in 40 states. These children were ages 2, 3 and 4. Most were enrolled in the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that provides food vouchers and other services.
However, researchers who made up the report were unable to determine if the same trend would apply to children in affluent families as it was harder to collect information from programs they had attended.
Another signs researchers noted via the study regarding health improvements was that breast-feeding rates had been increasing and those fed through breast milk tended to be at a lower risk for obesity.
More information regarding the report can be seen here.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone