A new study from Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education (CORE) suggests that childhood obesity may be on the decline. The study tracked middle school students at 42 schools across the country, including six in Philadelphia — many from groups with a higher risk for being overweight. CORE Director Gary Foster says his team wanted to find out if education and healthy changes at school would reduce the number of overweight kids. Their unexpected finding: a 4 percent decline in the rate of overweight and obese students at both test schools and non-test schools. Foster says greater social consciousness about childhood obesity may have helped.