Childhood Obesity in the US: Implication for school education

Background: Childhood obesity has been recognized as an increasing health problem worldwide. It is a predictor of obesity during adulthood, which is strongly linked to chronic lifestyle diseases. Obesity prevention in schoolchildren is a public health priority.

Objectives: To examine childhood obesity prevalence in ages 5-14 by gender, race and socioeconomic status (SES) over the past 10 years and its risk factors.

Methods: A total of 10,895 children ages 5 to 14 from continuous NHANES survey of 1999 - 2010 were included in this analysis. A constructing weights for combining six cycles from Analytic Guidelines, 1999–2010 (CDC) were used. The 2000 CDC Growth Charts was used to calculate each child’s BMI, standardized to the reference population for the child’s age and sex.  The CDC’s standard thresholds of the 95th percentile for obesity was used.

Results: The obesity prevalence increases from 14.02% in ages 5-6 to 19.97% in ages 11-12 and decreases to 17.89% in ages 13-14. A higher prevalence occurs in boys before age 12 than girls. A higher prevalence arises in Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Blacks compared to Non-Hispanic Whites across ages 5-14.  The difference is as high as 10% in ages 11-12.  Low SES has a higher obesity incident level (15.40%-25.10%) compared to a higher SES (10.79%-14.86%).

Conclusions: The highest obesity prevalence occurs in ages 11-12. The obesity rate is higher among minority children and those from lower SES.  Strategies to tackle obesity need to be incorporated into other existing school-based health promotion programs, particularly those preventing chronic diseases by promoting healthful eating and physical activity.