Children's Health

Obesity Rates Fall Among New York City School Kids

How to Spread the Health continued...

Now, New York City is finally seeing some of the fruits of its labor. This is not the first time that New York City has been a trailblazer, he says. It also was among the first to make a dent in the tobacco epidemic by providing free nicotine replacement patches and banning smoking in bars and restaurants.

This is another example of New York City leading the way, he says: “This is certainly an example that can be used and expanded upon by other cities, states, and municipalities.”

Achiau Ludomirsky, MD, has seen his fair share of young children with obesity-related diseases that were previously only seen in adults. He is the director of pediatric cardiology at the New York University Langone Medical Center.

Ludomirsky is cautiously optimistic about the new findings. “We still have a long, long road ahead of us, but this is still amazing,” he says. He predicts the childhood obesity rates will drop further in the next five years, but for these changes really to stick, eating healthier has to become more affordable.

“We need 99 cent salads, not 99 cent burgers. It is definitely still a financial burden to eat healthy,” he tells WebMD.