NPR

The Call-In: Childhood Obesity Rates Are At Their Highest Since 1999

On this week's Weekend Edition Call-In, NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro hears from listeners about childhood obesity and speaks with Dr. David Ludwig of Boston Children's Hospital.
A girl's hand reaches for sugar cubes. "We told people to load up on processed carbohydrates and gave sugary beverages a pass," said Dr. David Ludwig on what science got wrong about childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity was on the decline, or so it seemed. Both scientific journals and media outlets, including from NPR as late as 2012, have reported within the last decade that its numbers were moving down. The numbers have moved — in the wrong direction, according to a prominent new study which shows the highest spike in obesity among children 2 - 5 since 1999 and recent NPR coverage.

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