Obesity rate flat for first time in decades, health rankings find

An annual state-by-state survey says the country is making good progress in improving its overall health — including a flat obesity rate and a lower rate of smoking. But individual states, especially in the South, continue to lag. The 2013 edition of "America's Health Rankings" by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention says that, "for the first time in decades," the nation's obesity rate did not rise between 2012 and 2013. Americans are also becoming more physically active, the report says.