NYC wins victory over childhood obesity

By Julian Pecquet - 12/15/11 04:27 PM ET

The obesity rate among New York City's K-8 public-school students declined by more than 5 percent over the past five years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

The numbers mark the largest documented decline to date in a large city in the United States.

"I'm not aware of a large community actually reversing obesity anywhere in the world, other than in famine situations, obviously," CDC Director Thomas Frieden told The Hill. "It's definitely good news. It tells us that, yes, it's possible to make a difference."

The reduction in obesity rates, from 21.9 percent of children in 2006-2007 to 20.7 percent in 2010-2011, held true "overall and across all demographic groups," although whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders benefited more than Hispanic and black children.

Children ages five and six saw more improvement than older children. Likewise, children from poorer families did not do as well as wealthier children.

The CDC attributed the results to multiple programs New York City has put into place since 2003 to combat childhood obesity. These include more nutritious school meals, increased physical activity time for students and training school nurses to identify and monitor children at high risk for obesity.