Childhood obesity declines in several states, cities

• About a third of kids and teens are overweight or obese
• Cities and states have taken action to curb childhood obesity
• Lower obesity rates may be due to healthier foods in vending machines

Nutritional improvements made in the foods served at schools could help reverse the nation's childhood obesity epidemic, and the first evidence of that is in places that have implemented changes early.

Childhood obesity rates have declined slightly in several cities and states that are tackling the issue including Mississippi, California, New York City, Philadelphia, El Paso and Anchorage, according to two groups that are tracking the trend.

"We've had 30 years of increasing rates of obesity, but we might be seeing the turning point for this epidemic," says pediatrician James Marks, a senior vice president for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which issued a summary report on the topic. One of the foundation's goals is to reverse childhood obesity in this country.

The gains are pretty small in some communities, but if nothing else they reverse long-building trends of higher obesity rates among kids. "There are enough communities that have had declines that it shows any community that makes these kinds of changes could see their children get healthier," Marks says.

Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest,a Washington D.C.-based consumer group, which did its own analysis of the changes, says, "We are seeing decreases in obesity in places where they are making a concerted effort to address the problem, mostly in schools. They're not just crossing their fingers and hoping the problem goes away."

A 2010 law directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update the national nutrition standards for all food served in schools. The standards are designed to improve the health of about 53 million children who attend primary and secondary schools. Kids consume about 30% to 50% of their daily calories while at school.

The changes that went into effect this year mean students are being offered healthier options and slightly fewer calories at lunch, Wootan says.

Some cities and states also have increased the quantity and quality of physical activity for students, and many have instituted strong nutrition guidelines for the types of foods that can be sold in vending machines, à la carte lines and school stores, she says.

The decline in childhood obesity could become more widespread with the improvements being made in school food nationwide, Wootan says.

Greater declines in obesity are likely to come when the government implements rules for competitive foods, such as candy, chips, soda, cookies and pastries, sold in vending machines, à la carte lines and school stores, she says. Those should be released later this year and go into effect in two years or so, Wootan says. "That's where we'll see a bigger impact."

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Nationally about a third (31.8%) of kids and adolescents, ages 2 to 19, are obese or overweight, government statistics show. About 17% of them -- about 12.5 million kids -- are obese. Children are classified as overweight or obese based on where they fall on body mass index (BMI) growth charts.

Those extra pounds put kids at a greater risk of developing a host of debilitating and costly diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

According to the two groups, these places have made improvements in childhood obesity:

-- In Mississippi, the percentage of children in grades K-5 who were obese or overweight fell from about 43% in 2007 to 37.3% in 2011. (Mississippi has the highest adult obesity rate in the country.)

-- In California, obesity and overweight rates for grades 5, 7 and 9 decreased from 38.44% in 2005 to 38% in 2010.

-- In Anchorage, it declined from 38% in 2002-03 to 36% in 2010-11 for those in kindergarten through 12th grade.

-- In New York City, obesity dropped among kindergartners through 8th graders from 21.9% in 2006-07 to 20.7% in 2010-11.

-- In Philadelphia, obesity among K-12 kids decreased from 21.5% in 2006-07 to 20.5% in 2009-10.

-- In El Paso, obesity among fourth-graders decreased from 25.5% in 2000-02 to 18.8% in 2004-05.

Some reasons for these improvements: In Mississippi, the state board of education set nutritional standards in 2006 for foods and beverages sold in school vending machines, and a 2007 state law required the state's public schools to provide more physical activity time, offer healthier foods and beverages and develop health education programs, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report says.

California set strong nutrition standards for school snacks in 2007, the report notes. The foundation's report also cites a study that found that students in California are consuming 158 fewer calories a day than students in states with weaker nutrition standards.

Counties in the state, such as Los Angeles County, that were on the cutting edge in making healthier changes had bigger decreases in obesity, Marks says.

"The places in the country that are really on the cutting edge are doing more than just addressing the problem in schools," he says. "For instance, Philadelphia has worked on opening grocery stores in the food-desert areas (places with little access to healthy foods), and New York City has been very comprehensive including offering street carts where people can buy fresh fruits and vegetables."

Adds Wootan: "These are good initial results, but clearly we have a lot more work to do and need to help all schools adopt healthier food policies and address the rest of the places where children eat -- home, restaurants, parks, zoos, recreational facilities."

Gary Foster, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, says, "Environmental changes will make the tough work of healthy eating and active living a bit easier. But everyone (both parents and kids) still have to have some skin in the game."

The verdict is still out on exactly how much changes in school food can reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, he says.

Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, says, "Small changes are worth celebrating, especially in light of how fast rates had been rising, but many more bold changes will be necessary for real change to occur."