Kids Waistlines, School Lunches

The waistlines of American teens and children may have stopped expanding and school lunches may be to thank for the change. Researchers collected data on more than sixteen thousand children between two and eighteen. The number of those kids classified as obese based on their waist size held steady between 2003 and 2012. Children two to five years old saw a significant drop in waist size, while one third of the kids between six and eighteen were obese in the stomach area. Authors think the slowdown in childhood obesity is due to healthier school menus spearheaded by first lady Michelle Obama and the healthy, hunger free kids act of 2010.the act removed sodas and candy from schools and incorporated more fruits and vegetables, less sodium, more whole grains and appropriate portion sizes for kids. It's a change the U.S. department of agriculture officially rolled out to school lunchrooms in January 2012.