Des Moines, Iowa — A new report finds about one in every six Iowa kids is obese, which is on par with national figures.
Jamie Bussel is a senior program officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which released the annual State of Childhood Obesity report. That report studied obesity rates in children nationwide between the ages of ten and 17.
Bussel says we shouldn’t get too hung up on those national rankings.
The pandemic has forced many Iowa kids — and adults — to live a more sedentary lifestyle, and Bussel says it’s absolutely having an impact on our weight and our health.
The study suggests solutions which include making universal school meals permanent and broadening federal programs like WIC and others which are designed to pull families from poverty. See the full report at: https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org
