Could Childhod Obesity Be Declining?

Filed in archive Diet , Kid's Health , News on June 16, 2009

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According to a recent study, childhood obesity may be declining for the first time in 20+ years. However, could the numbers be misleading?

Research shows consumption of high fat foods is declining and soup, yogurt and fruit are on the rise. This study could be misleading because nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population is overweight. And, the percentage of overweight children has grown at an alarming rate, with 1 out of 3 kids considered overweight or obese.

Clearly, the economy could be playing a big part in these trends. Families may not be eating out as much, but that doesn't mean they're eating any better at home.

The findings, based on survey data by the Chicago market research firm NPD Group, follow a report last year that childhood obesity appears to have hit a plateau after rising for more than two decades.

That finding, reported by The Journal of the American Medical Association, has been greeted with guarded optimism, and it remains unclear whether efforts to limit junk food and increase physical activity in schools have had a meaningful effect on the way children eat.

But the new data suggest that a number of factors, from the economic downturn to new offerings from fast-food giants, may be influencing a general shift in eating preferences among children.

Read full report at NY Times.