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study suggests. While promising, it's not proof that the nation has turned a corner in the battle against childhood obesity, some experts say.
• The finding comes from a government study considered a gold-standard gauge of trends in the public's health. The researchers found that obesity among children ages 2 to 5 decreased -- to 8 percent, from 14 percent a decade ago. That would represent a 43 percent drop.
• But the only decline was seen in preschoolers, not in older children. And some experts note that even the improvement in toddlers wasn't a steady decline, and say it's hard to know yet whether preschooler weight figures are permanently curving down or merely jumping around.
• It is enough of a decline to be optimistic, said Cynthia Ogden, one of the study's authors.
• "There's a glimmer of hope," said Ogden, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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• SEATTLE (AP) -- Skiers and snowboarders rejoiced when a series of storms dumped several feet of snow in the mountains across the West, after what had been a disappointing start for those seeking fresh powder in the backcountry.
• But all the new snow and strong winds in the past month have fueled dangerous conditions from the Cascades to the Rockies, prompting forecasters to issue warnings of considerable or high avalanche danger for many places outside of established ski areas.
• Seventeen people have died in an avalanche this winter, 11 of them since early February. Many more skirted disaster and survived with broken bones or other injuries. Some were partially buried in snow, but managed to dig themselves out or were dug out by companions.
• Avalanche experts are seeing a similar problem across the region: too much snow and strong winds overloading weak layers of old snow. With too much stress and not enough time to bond or stabilize, that weak snow layer eventually gives way.
• "It's like putting a brick on top of a pile of potato chips," said Bruce Tremper, director of the U.S. Forest Service's Utah Avalanche Center.
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