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WASHINGTON, Apr 5, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Federal health experts say the rate of female obesity in the United States might be slowing.
While the percentage of women climbed continuously and quickly for decades, the percentage of obese women held steady at about one-third between 1999 and 2004, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Cynthia Ogden of the National Center for Health Statistics warns it's too soon to determine if that marks the start of a trend, or even a decline, in female obesity. But she said the finding is a positive one.
"It looks like it's leveling off," Ogden told the Post. "We'll need more data over the next few years to know for sure, but hopefully we'll see this continue, which would be terrific."
She notes nearly two-thirds of U.S. women are overweight and more than one-third are obese. And the percentage of children, adolescents and men who are overweight or obese has continued to increase.
Ogden told the Post it's possible recent intense public health efforts to stem the epidemic might be starting to have an impact.
The new data were reported in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
