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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: childhood obesity

Childhood Obesity – South Carolina

SC needs more action on obesity, August 26, 2013, Greenville Online: “South Carolina is moving backward in its fight against childhood obesity, at least according to one set of data that was recently released. The information suggests that more effort is needed to encourage healthier diets and more exercise for children — especially children in low-income families.In the four years from 2009 to 2012, the percentage of South Carolina children between 2 and 4 years old in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant and Children who are obese increased to 15.6 percent from 13.3 percent. It was a higher increase than any of 40 states included in a study of WIC…”

Obesity Rates Among Low-Income Preschoolers

  • Obesity rates decline among low-income preschoolers after rising for decades, By Lena H. Sun, August 6, 2013, Washington Post: “After decades of rising, obesity rates among low-income U.S. preschoolers declined broadly from 2008 to 2011, according to a federal report released Tuesday that offered the first glimpse of good news for children considered among the most vulnerable to the disease’s health risks. While other, smaller studies have cited drops among school-age children, the data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention represent by far the largest and most comprehensive report of declining obesity rates in poor children, officials said…”
  • Obesity among low-income preschoolers drops slightly, By Brad Balukjian, August 6, 2013, Los Angeles Times: “Obesity among low-income preschool-age children has declined slightly in many states, including California, providing some evidence that the battle against childhood obesity may finally be turning, according to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…”

School Meals Programs – West Virginia

W.Va. tries to tackle childhood hunger and obesity through expanded school meals, Associated Press, April 22, 2013, Washington Post: “In West Virginia’s Mason County, children walk to the cafeteria together so they can start the day’s lessons with a side of whole grain waffles, cereal, fruit and milk. Here, among the coal mines and farms so familiar across Appalachia, the old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day is taken literally as a way to tackle two problems: improving achievement in a state that ranks 47th nationally in public education, according to an annual study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and improving health in a state where federal officials say 29 percent of high schoolers are obese…”