Childhood obesity rates edge downward in LA

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Podcasts Take Two

Dec 11, 2012

Listen • 7:16

Childhood obesity rates edge downward in LA

Childhood obesity rates have shot up over the last three decades. Today, about one in three kids is overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk for diabetes and other medical conditions.

A cafeteria worker supervises lunches for school children at the Normandie Avenue Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles on December 2, 2010. First Lady Michelle Obama, a champion of measures to fight childhood obesity in the United States, welcomed passage in Congress Thursday of a law aimed at improving the quality of school meals. The House of Representatives earlier passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, following passage by the Senate. The bill now awaits President Barack Obama's signature to become law. It allows the federal government to encourage schools, through subsidies, to serve students meals that respect nutritional standards set by the National Academy of Sciences. Michelle Obama called the bill a "groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school and will play an integral role in our efforts to combat childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity rates have shot up over the last three decades. Today, about one in three kids is overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk for diabetes and other medical conditions.

But there are inklings of a trend reversal. Several cities, including Los Angeles, are reporting drops in obesity rates among kids.

New York Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise joins the show to help explain this drop in obesity rates.