SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Obesity Rates in U.S. Appear to be Finally Leveling Off
from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)
After a 30-year, record-shattering rise, U.S. obesity rates appear to be stabilizing. New statistics cited in two papers report only a slight uptick since 2005--leaving public health experts tentatively optimistic that they may be gaining some ground in their efforts to slim down the nation.
Many obesity specialists say the new data, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are a sign that efforts to address the obesity problem--such as placing nutritional information on food packaging and revising school lunch menus--are beginning to have an effect in a country where two-thirds of adults and one-third of children and teens are overweight or obese.
"A good first step is to stop the increase, so I think this is very positive news," said James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. "It may suggest our efforts are starting to make a difference. The bad news is we still have obesity rates that are just astronomical."
Read more...
Science in the Media
Newspapers:
Magazines and Web Sites:
The Science-Media Intersection:
Subscribe to Our Content!
Visit our RSS Feeds page to choose among 13 customized feeds, or create a free My AmSci account to request an email notice whenever a specified author, department or discipline appears online.