The Growing Trend
Reported from today's edition of The New York Times: Nearly half the children in New York City's public elementary schools are overweight, and about one in four is obese, a city survey has found... The figures indicate that the rising obesity among American children, well documented in surveys over four decades, is worse in New York City than in the country as a whole... The survey of nearly 3,000 children from kindergarten through fifth grade, conducted in May by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Education, showed that 43 percent weighed more than the recommended range, with 19 percent rated as overweight, and 24 percent as obese, as measured by factors including height, weight, age and sex.