Hey, remember how a little while back we were told childhood obesity was a horrific epidemic ravaging the land? And then every thirty seconds or so a study and accompanying news story would appear, saying that juice or distant mothers or text messaging was one of the causes? (Side note: News outlets almost always use one of maybe three pictures of overweight kids for these stories. I do hope those kids are getting royalties or something.) It seemed like you almost couldn't go a week without at least one "such-and-such is contributing to the fattening of our youth" story appearing somewhere.

Well, now there's more news in the kid and weight front. Apparently childhood obesity has leveled off. In fact, the rates of obesity have remained basically unchanged since 1999. The experts say it's too soon to get all hopeful, but maybe public health campaigns are perhaps responsible for the leveling. I don't know--I'd like to hear an alternative theory. Oh, but racial and economic disparities do persist, and poor folks and those in certain ethnic groups are still more likely to be obese. And we can probably in part thank the fast food industry and the dearth of healthy food options in lower income communities for that.