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March 4, 2013 Despite current trends, most parents assume their own kids won't grow up to be overweight adults. That 'optimism bias' has neurological roots, brain scientists say.

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March 1, 2013 Getting enough sleep is as crucial as eating well and exercising. But with family life spinning faster and faster, solid shut-eye is sometimes hard to come by. That can hurt kids' health — and increase their weight.

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February 27, 2013 NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health created a unique poll to gauge what children across the country are eating, drinking and doing as far as physical activity goes. Here's why.

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February 25, 2013 A new poll explores how crucial everyday decisions are made in American households about food and exercise. Many parents say that their families don't always have time to eat the healthiest meal or exercise.

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December 28, 2012 CPR"If it's not me, who's it going to be?" asks Colorado school cafeteria manager Kathy Del Tonto. After serving processed foods in her cafeterias for years, she realized that reducing childhood obesity can begin with her. She now has the lunch ladies making 95 percent of meals from scratch.

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December 26, 2012 The obesity rate in preschoolers dropped a fraction of a point between 2010 and 2003, a federal study found. Although the change was small, it may signal that the obesity epidemic has peaked.

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November 6, 2012 Whether you pick up some fast food or eat at a full service restaurant, eating out means eating more calories and drinking more sugary soda. For kids and teens, that has a lot of implications, especially as the country faces an obesity crisis.

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September 27, 2012 Critics say the ads, created by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, are condescending and could have a negative effect on people who are overweight. But the company stands by the ads, saying the obesity problem is so big, they needed to take dramatic action.

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September 18, 2012 In a study, researchers found that among white kids and teens, higher BPA levels were associated with more than twice the risk of obesity. But higher BPA levels didn't affect childhood obesity risk for blacks and Hispanics.

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September 17, 2012 Kids' high salt consumption is putting them at risk for illnesses linked to high blood pressure. The association between salt and blood pressure was highest in kids who are already overweight, the CDC says.

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August 22, 2012 Two studies suggest that antibiotics early in life may contribute to childhood weight gain. Experiments in mice and a look at the weight of more than 11,500 British babies point in the same direction.

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August 13, 2012 Fifth- through eighth-graders gained less weight in states that limit junk food sales in schools, compared with kids in states without such laws. That's according to a new analysis published online in Pediatrics.

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May 21, 2012 The proportion of 12- to 19-year-olds who report having diabetes or "prediabetes" increased from 9 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2008, according to a paper published in the journal Pediatrics. "This report really sounds the alarm," says one researcher.

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May 14, 2012 With the rising incidence of obesity comes a rising incidence of the health-related problems it causes. Pediatricians report seeing high blood pressure, heart disease and even certain cancers — diseases previously considered problems among adults only — in children as young as 3.

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May 7, 2012 More than two-thirds of the mothers participating in a recent study were inaccurate in their assessments. And the biggest problem was moms who thought their overweight toddlers were just fine.

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