Step away from the Twinkies. The youth in South Dakota aren't getting any thinner.

According to the South Dakota Department of Health, the number of South Dakota kids who are overweight or obese is 32.2 percent, that number is essentially unchanged for the fourth straight year.

It's a good news, bad news situation according to the department. The good news, the obesity rates appear to have leveled off in the state. The bad news, now that number needs to start coming down.

The survey found 16 percent of South Dakota's 5 to 19 year olds were obese and another 16 percent were overweight. The survey defines obese as at or above the 95th percentile body mass index for age when compared to kids of the same age and gender.

181 schools in South Dakota submitted student height and weight data for this latest survey, accounting for 37.3 percent of students in the state.

Now the state has a rather large homework assignment ahead of it. The department has set a goal to reduce the percentage of chubby children to 14 percent by the year 2020.

According to Ashley Miller, chronic disease epidemiologist for the Department of Health, the department will offer a variety of resources to help encourage healthy diets and increase physical activity for kids.

Source: DRGNews.com

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