Good and bad news on childhood obesity in CT; What we can do about it
According to a new report, 11.5% of children ages 10 to 17 in our state are obese. That is far too high and rising, but that ranks us 44th among states. At 27.4% we are also 44th among states for adult obesity. The obesity rate of Connecticut 2 to 4 year-olds enrolled in WIC (yes, toddlers) fell from 17.1% to 14.4% from 2010 to 2016. In addition to lots of data and charts, the report includes policies Connecticut can adopt to improve those numbers including setting nutrition standards for meals and snacks and limiting screen time in licensed early childhood education settings, and setting physical education time standards in elementary, middle and high schools.