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Obesity Rates Fall for White Girls, Not for Blacks, Indians in U.S. Study
By Arielle Fridson - Aug 15, 2010 9:01 PM PT
Obesity increased among black and American Indian girls in California even while declining for non-Hispanic whites, signaling flaws in U.S. programs aimed at combating fatness, researchers said.
The rate of obesity rose to 22 percent in 2008 for black girls, from 20 percent seven years earlier, while climbing for American Indian girls to 23 percent from 15 percent, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics. Those numbers moved up even after 2005, when the rate for non- Hispanic white girls fell by 0.6 percentage point, to 10 percent, the scientists said.
The finding suggests there will be greater disparities among racial and ethnic groups over time, and that anti-obesity programs must be tailored to high-risk populations, said researchers led by Kristine A. Madsen, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
?Our study is a call to action,? Madsen said in a telephone interview Aug. 12. ?We?re the first ones to show that the policies that we?re putting in place to decrease obesity are not decreasing disparities. That?s scary.? Programs should target low-income communities specifically, since that is where obesity is increasing, she said.
READ MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...irls-not-for-blacks-indians-in-u-s-study.html
By Arielle Fridson - Aug 15, 2010 9:01 PM PT
Obesity increased among black and American Indian girls in California even while declining for non-Hispanic whites, signaling flaws in U.S. programs aimed at combating fatness, researchers said.
The rate of obesity rose to 22 percent in 2008 for black girls, from 20 percent seven years earlier, while climbing for American Indian girls to 23 percent from 15 percent, according to a study published today in the journal Pediatrics. Those numbers moved up even after 2005, when the rate for non- Hispanic white girls fell by 0.6 percentage point, to 10 percent, the scientists said.
The finding suggests there will be greater disparities among racial and ethnic groups over time, and that anti-obesity programs must be tailored to high-risk populations, said researchers led by Kristine A. Madsen, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
?Our study is a call to action,? Madsen said in a telephone interview Aug. 12. ?We?re the first ones to show that the policies that we?re putting in place to decrease obesity are not decreasing disparities. That?s scary.? Programs should target low-income communities specifically, since that is where obesity is increasing, she said.
READ MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...irls-not-for-blacks-indians-in-u-s-study.html