From Your Health Journal…..”It is nice to see a decline in childhood obesity in some areas, but the truth is, it is still on the rise in many areas. Many children along with their parents are gaining weight at quick intervals, putting them at risk for heart disease or diabetes. As this blog has stated many times, the trick is not to let you family get overweight, as prevention is the best defense. It is very hard to lose the weight once gained, so again, prevention is key.”

From the article…..

Obesity rates for children have declined in several major cities and California and Mississippi – the first reduction since rates began to climb rapidly 30 years ago.

The trend reversal is modest but extremely important in terms of health for individual kids and for long-term prospects of getting the nation’s health care costs under control.

A September report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation first detailed the developments in New York, Philadelphia and the two states.

In Philadelphia, the results are particularly encouraging because the reductions were across all races and economic groups, whereas reductions in other areas tended to be among white kids from more affluent families.

During the 2006-2007 school year, 21.5 percent of public school students in Philadelphia were obese. In the 2009-2010 school year, the number was 20.5 percent – a reduction of 1 percentage point, 4.7 percent. It isn’t clear if the difference is due to new students being lighter or older students losing weight, but either way the trend is positive.

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