Looks like even fats kids get full. Or at least tired.
After more than 30 years of bulging waistlines in our nation's children, the newest numbers suggest the so-called childhood obesity epidemic has finally plateaued: the level of overweight kids across the board seems to have remained about the same since 1999.
Of course, that doesn't really mean we can celebrate just yet. Not with an apple turnover, anyway. The numbers still point to a country full of kids so thoroughly overweight that one study declared it could be the first generation "of the modern era to live shorter lives than their parents."
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There are two ways to look at this — think of it as the cereal bowl is either half empty or half full. Either the word is getting out and these kids are eating less junk and exercising more, or we've just reached a natural saturation point. Things just can't get any worse, some argue.
Now, I'm as cynical as the next disillusioned, Gen-X journalist, but I'm not sure I buy that. For starters, it's been my experience that things can always get worse.
But, jokes aside (briefly), this actually follows the pattern of tobacco use in this country, as well. In fact, some experts argue this leveling off is a statistically natural phenomenon that could very well precede a drop off that could take decades to emerge.
If my (sporadic) experience at the gym is any indication, it's a lot easier to put it on than to take it off. Maybe that explains the drop in teenage pregnancy rates, too.
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