“This confirms that at least for kids, we can turn the tide and begin to reverse the obesity epidemic.” 
 
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 The preschool drop is particularly encouraging in light of recent research that found that overweight kindergarteners are four times as likely as normal-weight kids to become obese by middle-school. The Centers for Disease Control said in a press release that the obesity rate for American children in the two to five-year-old demographic dropped from 14 percent in 2003-04 to just above 8 percent in 2011-12, a 43 percent decrease. It’s the brightest spot in a report that found that overall obesity held steady but remains high in the U.S., with about one-third of adults and 17 percent of kids and teens still medically obese. First Lady Michelle Obama responded to the CDC report saying she was “thrilled at the progress we’ve made over the last few years in obesity rates among our youngest Americans.” Obama has been an outspoken advocate for children’s health and was due to unveil the administration’s new restrictions on marketing of junk foods Tuesday as part of her “Let’s Move” initiative to fight childhood obesity. The obesity rate for preschoolers — 2- to 5-year-olds — has fluctuated over the years, but Dr. Ogden said the pattern became clear with a decade’s worth of data. “This is the second report that shows that things have plateaued," said Dr. Adrienne Youdim, medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Weight Loss Center in Los Angeles. “The weight of evidence is becoming more marked,” he said.
– Here's something we don't hear much: good news on the nation's childhood obesity rate. The CDC says it's down among kids ages 2 to 5 by 43% over the last decade, reports Time. That's not just a mild surprise, it's "stunning," declares the New York Times. Specifically, the percentage of kids in that group who were obese dropped from 14% in 2004 to 8% in 2012. “This is the first time we’ve seen any indication of any significant decrease in any group,” says the author of the new report to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “It was exciting.” Of course, the federal survey shows that obesity in the overall population remains a problem, reports NBC News, with about 33% of adults and 17% of all kids and teens classified as such. But the drop among the very young obviously bodes well. What's going on? The stories cite a slew of potential factors, from fewer sugary drinks, to increased breastfeeding, to better physical-education programs at school, to Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative. In a statement, Obama said she was "thrilled" at the improved numbers. (A recent study show why it's important: Kids are who obese in kindergarten are more likely to remain that way as adults.)