For many years, doctors have been wringing their hands as more and more U.S. children grew fat. Now, that may be changing, with the first evidence of a national decline in childhood obesity.

In 18 states, there were at least slight drops in obesity for low-income preschoolers, health officials said Tuesday.

After decades on the rise, childhood obesity rates recently have essentially been flat. A few places – Philadelphia, New York City and Mississippi – reported improvements in the last couple of years. But the report from the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention shows signs of wider-ranging progress.

“Now, for the first time, we’re seeing a significant decrease in childhood obesity” nationally, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director.

But rates are still too high, he added. One in 8 preschoolers is obese in the United States, and it’s even more common in black and Hispanic kids.

“It’s not like we’re out of the woods,” he said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

Fat Thanks to Darshana P. for the tip!

Childhood Obesity Rate Shows Signs Of National Decline For First Time In Decades: CDC Report

In June, first lady Michelle Obama appeared in a hip-hop music video that featured rapper Doug E. Fresh, singer-songwriter Jordin Sparks and TV medical personality Dr. Oz. The catchy song urged kids to “work hard/eat right” and “tell somebody/it’s your body/c’mon.” The song was just the first of a 19-track album, the majority of which are hip-hop, to be released by the Partnership for a Healthier America, the anti-obesity nonprofit that launched in conjunction with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! anti-obesity campaign, and a New York-based group called Hip Hop Public Health.

The full album, which includes songs with names like “Veggie Luv,” by Monifah and J Rome, “Hip Hop LEAN,” by Artie Green, and “Give Myself a Try,” by Ryan Beatty, will be released on Sept. 30.

Let’s Move! Executive Director and White House assistant chef Sam Kass says the White House is fully behind the initiative to use hip-hop – and other genres of music – as a tool to get kids to live healthier lives.

“Cultural leaders and visionaries in our country can give these messages to kids in a way that’s not preachy. Kids are going to be dancing and listening to the music,” he says. “I think hip-hop in particular – so many kids love hip-hop. It’s such a core part of our culture …and particularly in the African-American community and the Latino community which is being disproportionately affected by those health issues.”

Michelle Obama’s Newest Initiative: Using Hip-Hop to Fight Obesity – US News and World Report

New York City’s crackdown on big, sugary sodas is staying on ice.

An appeals court ruled Tuesday that New York City’s Board of Health exceeded its legal authority and acted unconstitutionally when it tried to put a size limit on soft drinks served in city restaurants.

The state Supreme Court Appellate Division panel upheld a lower court decision that had delayed the measure before it took effect in March.

The rule would stop many eateries from selling non-diet soda and other sugar-laden beverages in containers bigger than 16 ounces.

The beverage industry and other opponents say the measure is riddled with exceptions, unfair and ineffective.

The city’s law department has promised an appeal.

Appeals court strikes down NYC’s big-soda ban – Yahoo! Finance

For countries with rich culinary traditions that date back to the Aztecs and Incas, Mexico and Peru have developed quite a taste for modern food fashions.

Mexicans quaff more fizzy drinks than any other country; Peru has the highest density of fast-food joints in the world.

Chile, one of the world’s biggest exporters of fruit, doesn’t eat much of it: processed foods account for more than half an average Chilean’s shopping basket.

Even in slender Brazil, the eating of sweets and junk food has risen fivefold in 30 years.

Obesity in Latin America: Battle of the bulge | The Economist

A 450-pound inmate who was deemed too fat to be put to death has died of natural causes.

Ronald Post died Thursday morning at an Ohio prison hospital where he’d been treated on and off since 2011, a state prisons spokeswoman said. He was a week shy of his 54th birthday.

His obesity became an issue when Post argued in federal court that executing him would amount to cruel and unusual punishment because it would take a long time for a prison official to find a muscle for the lethal injection to be administered.

His death comes seven months after he was granted clemency by the governor, when his case drew national attention because of his  weight.

Spokeswoman Ricky Seyfang said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction classified the death as ‘expected.’

She said privacy laws prevented her from divulging whether Post’s weight was a factor in his death.

Post was sentenced to death for killing Elyria motel clerk Helen Vantz on Decemeber 15, 1983.

Ronald Post: Obese inmate ‘too fat for execution’ dies in prison hospital aged 53 | Mail Online

Albert Buitenhuis, who weighs 286 pounds, was told that it may place demands on the New Zealand health services.

He and wife Marthie are now facing deportation from their Christchurch home and are living with his sister in Auckland as they fight the decision.

New Zealand is the third most obese nation in the developed world, coming behind the US and Mexico.

Albert is five feet ten inches tall and has a body mass index of 40, making him clinically obese.

Albert Buitenhuis: New Zealand kicks obese man out of the country because at 290lbs he is too heavy | Mail Online