Obesity Rates Fall In Children- Signs of Concern

As per latest study, obesity rates have drastically dropped in around forty-one states and territories among young children enrolled in a U.S. nutrition program. Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned that the major reasons leading to this obesity outcome could be improvements in national, state and caregiver guidance around nutrition and physical activity. He said "We are moving in the right direction, and helping parents make healthy choices for their children is reducing the potential for complications posed by childhood obesity later in life." As a result of the study, U.S. federal government researchers found out that the childhood obesity among more than 12.4 million children, aged 2 to 4, from 2010 to 2016 mostly is in low-income families enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The WIC not only helps in providing supplemental foods but also provides nutrition education. In 2009, WIC state agencies had begun this initiative to provide food packages more in collaboration with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and infant feeding practice guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. As a result, there was more availability of healthier foods and beverages for WIC enrollees. However, between 2010 and 2016, there was a fall in the obesity rates by more than 3% in seven WIC states and territories, that is, New Jersey, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. Aside to this, there was an increase as well in three states Alabama by 0.5%, North Carolina by 0.6% and West Virginia by 2.2%. The study has also been published in the Nov 21 issue of the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Whereby, a study earlier had proved that 34 of 56 WIC state/territory agencies had a decrement in the obesity rates somewhere between 2010 and 2014. However, currently, the WIC program is in progress of helping establish successful long-term breastfeeding, providing a much wider variety of foods to the participants and offering WIC state agencies flexibility in food packages for participants with cultural food preferences. But even though all this was made available, still the obesity rates among children enrolled in WIC remained high in most states in 2016. Dr. Ruth Petersen, director of CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, said "While we have seen some progress, obesity prevalence among young children remains too high." Also, Petersen stated that "We must persist in our efforts to support healthy eating and physical activity for this positive trend to continue.”

By: Anuja Arora
Content: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-11-21/obesity-rates-fall-for-many-young-kids-in-federal-nutrition-program