Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates
By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian
May 03, 2010, 9:15PM
View full sizeKids in Oregon -- unlike those in 49 other states -- are getting leaner, a new study suggests.Problem is, experts can't explain why Oregon has veered from the extreme weight-gain trend that continues at an alarming rate elsewhere.
The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, and it doubled among girls in two states: Arizona and Kansas. But Oregon's youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007, researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week.
"It seems quite substantial," said Gopal Singh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. "We don't know precisely the reasons for it."
Singh and others tracked obesity using the National Survey of Children's Health, a telephone survey of parents. The researchers used height and weight to calculate whether children were overweight or obese.
More than 16 percent of U.S. children qualified as obese, having a body
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