Aug 07, 2013 11:13 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

For the first time in several decades, the rate of obesity among low-income children is falling instead of rising, the New York Times reported.

Childhood obesity has not been a problem just in low-income children, but that was the biggest problem area. Now 19 states have reported a drop in obesity among poor families' young children.

The decline was not just found in an isolated report, the news comes from health officials in a major government report. The consistent decline is the first in decades.

"We've seen isolated reports in the past that have had encouraging trends, but this is the first report to show declining rates of obesity in our youngest children," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which prepared the report. "We are going in the right direction for the first time in a generation."

Children from low-income families have always had the highest risk of obesity. One in eight U.S. pre-school children is obese and, in children from poor families, it is one in seven. The rate for black children is one in five and, for Latino children, it is one in six.

"Although obesity remains epidemic, the tide has begun to turn for some kids in some states," Frieden told USA Today. "While the changes are small, for the first time in a generation they are going in the right direction."

The results are published in the CDC's latest Vital Signs report. Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands had the largest drop in childhood obesity at one full percentage point. The rates held steady in 20 states and Puerto Rico, but only rose in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

"It's great news, but it's too early to say that I feel confident that we are securely on the path to improvement," said James Marks, senior vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a charity devoted to public health.

First Lady Michelle Obama has been at the forefront of the fight against childhood obesity with her "Let's Move!" initiative. Frieden said her campaign, in addition to more infant breast-feeding and dietary guidelines for children are the three leading factors for the widespread declining childhood obesity rates.

"We know how essential it is to set our youngest children on a path toward a lifetime of healthy eating and physical activity," Michelle Obama said in a statement. "More than 10,000 child care programs participating in the Let's Move! Child Care initiative are doing vitally important work on this front."

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