Although overall obesity rates remain unchanged, the rate among young children fell 43 percent from 2004 to 2012, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the report, Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012, found that roughly 8 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 5 were obese in 2011-12, down from 14 percent in 2003-04 — even while rates for African Americans (one in nine) and Latinos (one in six) were higher. Although several states have reported modest progress in reducing childhood obesity in recent years and the CDC noted a slight decline in obesity among low-income children last year, the finding came as a welcome surprise to researchers — not least because children who are overweight or obese are five times as likely to be overweight or obese as adults, the New York Times reports.

"This is the first time we've seen any indication of any significant decrease in any group," CDC researcher Cynthia L. Ogden, the lead author of the report, told the Times. "It was exciting." Ogden pointed out, however, that young children comprise a tiny fraction of the U.S. population and that overall trends remained flat — a third of adults and 17 percent of adolescents are obese — while rates are increasing among women age 60 and older.

While the reason for the decline in obesity among 2- to 5-year-olds was not clear, CDC noted that childcare centers have begun to improve their nutrition and physical activity standards and that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among children has declined. According to the Times, some researchers credit changes in the federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which reduced its funding for fruit juices, cheese, and eggs and increased its funding for whole fruits and vegetables, as well as state, local, and federal policies aimed at reducing obesity, including First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, which on Tuesday issued proposed guidelines for local school wellness policies to ensure that unhealthy food is not marketed to children.

"After decades of seemingly endless bad news about obesity, our collective efforts over the last several years show that we as a nation are finally moving in the right direction," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a statement. "Of course we can't stop now. We must redouble our efforts and continue to focus on those children and families most at risk for obesity."