摘要：After decades of increases, the prevalence of childhood obesity has declined in the past decade in New York City, as measured in children participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and public school students, with the greatest reductions occurring in the youngest children. Possible explanations were changes in demographics; WIC, day care, and school food policies; citywide obesity prevention policies, media messages; and family and community food consumption. Although the decreases cannot be attributed to any one cause, the most plausible explanation is changes in food consumption at home, prompted by media messages and reinforced by school and child care center policy changes. Continued media messages and policy changes are needed to sustain these improvements and extend them to other age groups. Recent reports have suggested that the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States may have leveled off or declined after decades of increases since the late 1970s. 1 In New York City (NYC), significant decreases in childhood obesity have been found during the past decade among low-income children aged two to four years participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC; Figure 1 ) and among NYC public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 2 Open in a separate window FIGURE 1— Obesity prevalence among New York City children aged two to four years enrolled in Women, Infants, and Children and children aged five to 14 years enrolled in public school with timeline of selected policy changes. Note. Obesity is defined as body mass index at or above the 95th percentile. Data for two- to four-year-old children are from New York State Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance Data (Personal communication, Lynn Edmunds, New York State Department of Health), and data for five- to 14-year-old children are from the New York City Department of Education. 2 The reasons for this decline are unclear but very important. Understanding what has caused the decline in some jurisdictions may inform local efforts to accelerate decreases and promote decreases in other jurisdictions. Several hypotheses may explain these trends in childhood obesity during the past decade in NYC.
