JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Researchers at East Tennessee State University say they are encouraged by a modest decline in childhood obesity in the state.
The researchers at the school’s College of Public Health have just completed an annual evaluation of Tennessee’s Coordinated School Health (CSH) program.
This project involves school system programs stressing healthy nutrition, physical activity and health education.
The evaluation found that children who are overweight or obese dropped from 40.9 percent in 2007-08 to 39 percent in 2008-09.
The study covered about 1,600 schools, more than 893,000 students and about 140 school districts.
“It’s a good sign that Tennessee has made strides in the right direction,” said Dr. Deborah Slawson, an assistant professor in ETSU’s Department of Community Health and primary investigator for the evaluation.
“From looking at rates from one year to the next, we can say that national rates of pediatric obesity are just now leveling out after a long upward trend, while Tennessee rates have actually decreased,” Slawson said.
National studies have shown Tennessee still has the third-highest rate of pediatric obesity in the nation.
Researchers said they were encouraged by the quality of food and drinks sold in Tennessee schools. The percentage of state schools that did not sell soft drinks or high-calorie fruit juices increased from 27 percent in 2006 to 74 percent in 2008.
Tennessee now ranks second nationally in that category and is used as a “best practice” for other states to follow, recognition that is largely due to the CSH initiative, Slawson said.
“We have gone from being in the bottom quartile of healthy foods available in schools to the top,” Slawson said.
She said the study “reveals encouraging signs even as the state continues to face significant challenges in terms of overall health.”