Childhood Obesity

Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts. Typically this is from a BMI greater than 30. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) children and adolescents ages 2-19 the prevalence of obesity was 19.3% and affected about 14.4 million children and adolescents. Obesity prevalence was 13.4% among ages 2-5, 20.3% among ages 6-11, and 21.2% among ages 12-19. Childhood Obesity heavily affects emotional and physical health. Some side affects are asthma, diabetes, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, high cholesterol, sleeping disorders, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, target for bullying, and makes it harder to participate in activities especially for children.

Childhood Obesity is more common among certain populations. Childhood obesity prevalence was 25.6% among Hispanic children, 24.2% among non-Hispanic black children, 18.1% among non-Hispanic white children, and 8.7% in non-Hispanic Asian children.

Childhood obesity prevalence was 18.9% among children ages 2-19 in the lowest income group and 19.9% among those in the highest income group.

Everything written in this post was provided by Spring Hill Nursing seniors during a lecture on 10-26-21