Oregon tweens are lean, Mississippi's tip scales
Oregon tweens are lean, Mississippi's tip scales
Oregon has the nation's lowest rate of hefty kids, according to a new government study, which found big gaps between regions and ballooning obesity rates in many states from 2003 to 2007. Mississippi topped the nation with more than a fifth of its kids obese.
More than 16 percent of American children ages 10 to 17 years were not just overweight, but obese, in 2007. That's a 10 percent rise from 2003.
Even the best states fell short. The federal Healthy People 2010 initiative set a childhood obesity goal of 5 percent. Only Wyoming girls came close to that, according to the study appearing in May's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
What's the magic in Oregon that keeps kids lean? It's a mystery health officials would like to solve as they admit all states are failing — by a mile — to meet federal goals for childhood obesity..
Black and Hispanic young people in the study were twice as likely as whites to be overweight or obese, even when the researchers took into account other risk factors like inactivity and poverty.
Oregon is 90 percent white. It also has a high rate of breast-feeding, and some research suggests that protects against obesity.
Oregon law sets nutrition standards in schools and requires chain restaurants to provide nutritional information on request. Those steps, taken recently, wouldn't have shown up in the new study's results, but may reflect Oregon's inherent interest in health.
Experts blame the rise in childhood obesity on fast food, neighborhoods without sidewalks, television, video games, schools neglecting physical education and a host of other societal changes, said Dr. Joe Thompson, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity.
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- Posted on May 4, 2010
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This doesn't surprise me at all. Oregon especially Portland, is jogger city. Everyone in Oregon seems to exercises alto. I always see a ton of people jogging in the morning. And usually when the list with the healthiest cities come out, Hawaii or California is usually first and the Seattle or Oregon usually follows. People in the southern area tend to be heavier because they eat a lot of fried and unhealthy food. Whenever you watch a movie about overweight or obese people they are usually in the southern united states area.
I think this a great study of obesity, and they should continue doing it. It also shows that African Americans are more likely to be obese, but a lot of white people are obese to.
This is odd because I did not know that most kids are obese.Oregon kids may be less obese because there are less treats and more fresh plants is my theory.It may also be that the kids are fed healthier foods.
Studies have shown that more and more kids are becoming obese. Oregon is one of the few states that have more healthy kids. It is very sad to see that kids can't control themselves. If you just try then all the states can have a low percentage of obese kids
I thought this article was very interesting! Because i didn't know that obesity could depend on race. But I don't know if that is true, because how could the color of your skin determine your chances of becoming obese. Wouldn't that be from the enviroment your grew up in or your influences?
This is very interesting how Oregon has the least amount of children being obese. I never realized things like the fact that because of breastfeeding and the state being 90% white had something to do with it. I think that schools need to do more PE and parents need to be assertive when they notice their kids getting heavier. I wish that people could be as good as Oregon, but the only state that got close was girls from Wyoming. If only kids could realize all the problems that went with obesity.
I agree, I never thought some things in this article could be blamed for obesity. Parents should be more aware like you said because we don't notice it as a problem as bad as obesity. You don't look in the mirror and say "Oh no! I'm getting obese and I might die!!!", you just get sorta mad at yourself and go on with whatever your doing.
Mostly all states have a lot of obese children except Oregon. Oregon sets nutrition standards for school lunches and has nutrition information on request at restraunts. Oregon has also a population of more white people, blacks and hispanics are prone to obesity more than white people.
I think that it is sad that so many people are obese. We really should try our best to be healthier. I find it shocking that Oregon has the most healthest kids there and that Mississippi has the unhealthiest kids. I think that we should all get up and be active. I think it is sad that some people are obese because of where they live or what their school neglects.
This article is about how Oregon has the lowest obesity rate and how Mississippi has over one fifth of its kids obese. Health officials don't know why kids in Oregon are leaner than the rest of the states. Kids in Mississippi should work out and try to lower obesity rates. I think it would be embarrassing living in Mississippi so I wold work very hard to lower the obesity rate.