CDC: Some states report decreasing rates of childhood obesity

Small but significant declines in obesity among low-income preschoolers were found in 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2008 to 2011.

The Wall Street Journal: Childhood Obesity Declines In Some States
The problem of childhood obesity, long among the country's most intractable and vexing health issues, is at last showing signs of turning the corner. The obesity rate for low-income preschool-age children declined between 2008 and 2011 in 19 of 43 states and territories measured, federal data showed on Tuesday (McKay, 8/7).

USA Today: CDC: Childhood Obesity Rates Falling In Many States
Obesity rates among preschoolers are falling in many states for the first time in decades, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Small but significant declines in obesity among low-income preschoolers were found in 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2008 to 2011, CDC director Thomas Frieden said at a press telebriefing (Payne, 8/6).

In other public health news -

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Transforming Prenatal Care To Lower Infant Mortality
A heartfelt discussion about the impact that parents have on their children followed. But this is not a simple support group. It is an innovative way of delivering prenatal care that takes women out of the doctor's office and into a group setting where education, emotional support, and physical health intertwine. Philadelphia had one of the worst first-day infant mortality rates -- 5.43 of every 1,000 live births -- among more than 200 of the most populous counties in the country between 2007 and 2009, according to a recent report by the charity Save the Children (Gaestel, 8/6).