Daily HealthBeat Tip

Bigger, not better

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Bigger is not always better -- and in weight, bigger can be worse.

But that's what researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found when they compared measures taken in 2003 and '04 with those taken in 1999-2000. Their report is in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

CDC says 17 percent of children and teens weigh too much. That's up from about 14 percent. And more men became obese – about 31 percent, up from less than 28 percent.

Researcher Cynthia Ogden:

"I was surprised to find that we saw an increase in obesity in men, and overweight in children during such a short time period." (eight seconds)

Women's obesity rate was level. But about one third of women are obese, so that's still too high.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: April 10, 2006

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