Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows decline in childhood obesity rates in 19 sites

Rates of childhood obesity showed the first signs of a small decline in 19 of 43 sites studied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite this encouraging news, nearly 1 in 6 (17%) children and teens are obese, including 1 in 8 (12%) preschoolers. "We cannot become complacent," says David L. Katz, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Childhood Obesity (http://www.liebertpub.com/chi), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, and Director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center (Derby, CT).

According to Dr. Katz, the glass is still at least half empty. "It will take much more than tiny declines in childhood obesity in some locations to turn this tide; premature complacency would be a very costly mistake. Some good news is very welcome, but we have a very long way to go. Millions of kids are obese and the rate of severe obesity in the U.S. is skyrocketing. Lifelong consequences such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and other obesity-related chronic diseases are increasing in children and teens."

Action is needed to:

- Empower families with the skill set required to eat well, be active, and control weight
- Implement daily physical activity programming in all schools
- Engage adults in approaches to weight control that are healthful and suitable for children
- Continue to raise school nutrition standards
- Develop programming to enable healthful living, and disseminate the effective programming already established