The national rate for obesity in children and adolescents could be moving toward stability after a 25-year increase, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study involved analyzing data gathered from 1999 to 2006 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysts studied information about 8,165 children and adolescents who participated in two federal health and nutrition examination surveys. In 2003 and 2005, about 32% of children were overweight, 16% were obese and 11,3% were extremely obese, according to a study by the CDC. Those levels remained the same after rising continuously since 1980. The findings are considered relevant, as they are based on in-person measurements, not on people's own reporting of their height and weight.

Specialists think that this is good news indeed, but it does not give a precise view on the situation.

"However, it is too early to know whether these data reflect a true plateau or a statistical aberration in an inexorable epidemic. And, pre-existing racial/ethnic disparities show no sign of abating," stated Dr. David Ludwig of the Children's Hospital Boston and a co-author of an editorial in the publication.

But if one considered these conclusions as relevant, the explanation for the outcome of the study may be that the recent public-health campaigns raised awareness of childhood obesity and lead to improving the quality of school food.