Obesity is a serious problem for adults, teenagers and children in the United States. As damaging as obesity is for an adult, children who struggle with obesity may be obese their entire life. Children who are obese may struggle to keep up with his friends who are running down the street and may sit on the sidelines while his friends play basketball. As you learn about the obesity rates among children in American, consider using the information to make a positive difference in your community.
Recent Findings
The June 2010 report entitled "F as in Fat," sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Health, indicates that since 1980, obesity rates for children between the ages of 2 and 19 have tripled. As of 2007, about 30 percent of children in America are either obese or overweight. About 17 percent are obese and 18 percent are overweight. A child who is 10 to 17 years old and whose BMI is more than the 95th percentile on the height and weight chart falls into the obese category.
By Age
Children between the ages of 2 to 5 years old were twice as likely to be obese as of 2008 as they were in the late 1970s. As of 2008, slightly over 10 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds were obese, compared to just 5 percent in the 1976 to 1980 data. During the same period, the obesity rate in children from 6 to 11 increased from about 6 to 20 percent. Middle and high school student's rate of obesity increased in a similar fashion, from 5 to just over 18 percent.
State Highlights
The southern part of the United States has the distinction of having the highest percentages of obese children, according to the study from the Trust for America's Health. The three states with the highest rates in the study are Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky. Illinois and Louisiana tied for fourth as of the 2007 National Survey on Children's Health. The only state with a less than 10 percent obesity rate among children is Oregon. The District of Columbia and eight other states, all in the south, have obesity rates in children topping 20 percent. After Oregon, the three states with the lowest childhood obesity rates are Wyoming, Washington and Minnesota.
Children's School Meals
Although all schools are required by the federal government to provide some type of physical education, and the federal government and many states have enacted legislation to combat childhood obesity, the increase and prevalence of childhood obesity may be difficult to reverse. Over 90 percent of school aged children eat lunch at school, 40 percent each a snack on campus and almost 20 percent have breakfast at school, according to the "F as in Fat" study. Less than half the states have nutritional meal standards for school food that are more stringent than federal standards. Recently, legislatures on the federal and state level passed bills and acts in the hopes of making school food more healthy and reducing the number of children suffering from obesity, including the Health, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 signed by President Barak Obama in December 2010.
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