Study: Childhood obesity may be leveling off

Brian Gordon is one of thousands who battled a weight problem as a child. It wasn't until he became active in sports that the pounds began to drop off.

“I gained a lot of weight in middle school and my parents got me into soccer, baseball and wrestling – things like that,” Gordon said.

More than 16 percent of the children and teens in America are considered obese. While the numbers have not increased, they also have not decreased. However, ethnic and gender disparities persist.

Twenty-eight percent of African-American girls, 20 percent of Mexican-American girls and 14 percent of white teenage girls are overweight or obese.

“The main concern for teenagers is that if you're too heavy as a teen, you're likely to be obese as an adult and that can be a problem,” Ogden said.

The public health message remains the same: children and teens need a well-balanced diet and regular physical activity.

Researchers found that adolescents between ages 12 and 19 are more likely to be overweight or obese – compared with children ages 2 through 5.

The new study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.