Obesity

Indicator Definition 
Obesity for children (ages 10–17 years) is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s gender- and age-specific revised Growth Charts for the United States. The BMI for children and adolescents is a number calculated from a child’s weight and height. BMI measurements for children and adolescents reflect normal differences in body fat between boys and girls while considering differences in body fat at various ages. It provides a reliable indicator of body fat and is used to screen for excessive weight gain that may lead to health problems. BMI-for-age calculated from the National Survey of Children’s Health is based on parent-reported height and weight of children. Past comparisons with independent height and weight measurements of the same children in the survey reveal that children under 10 years of age generally had underreported height and overreported weight measurements by their parents. Therefore, BMI for children under 10 years of age has not been included as part of this indicator.

Obese children in Colorado5

Obese children by race/ethnicity in Colorado6

Indicator Significance
The proportion of children ages 6–11 in the United States who are obese increased from 7 percent during 1976–1980 to 17 percent during 2003–2006.¹ The growing proportion of children who are obese has been described as an epidemic requiring an immediate policy response. For the first time in history, children in the United States may have a lower life expectancy than their parents due to the increased incidence of obesity and related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Using the Healthy People 2010 guidelines, all states are far from achieving the goal of a childhood obesity rate of 5 percent or less.²

Colorado Specifics 
Data from the National Survey of Children’s Health indicate Colorado ranks 23rd compared to other states in the proportion of children who are obese. Between 2003 and 2007, the number of children between the ages of 10–17 years who are obese rose from 48,000 to 72,000 in Colorado. Hispanic children were three times more likely to be obese than white children.³

Promising Initiatives
In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a childhood obesity prevention initiative through the Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) called FIT WIC. Five FIT WIC projects were funded over three years in California, Kentucky, Vermont, Virginia and the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. Each project team developed tailored programs to increase healthy eating behaviors and physical activity levels among their WIC participants.⁴

In Vermont the WIC program serves half of all pregnant women and infants in the state and about 35 percent of all children under the age of 5 years. The Vermont FIT WIC project developed the “FIT WIC Activity Kit” to increase active physical playtime and decrease sedentary time for 3- and 4-year-olds. WIC mothers were given an activity kit with information about the important relationship between cognitive and physical development, ideas for incorporating physical activity into everyday routines, specific skill-building activities designed to enhance physical development and learning among young children and information about active community resources for family outings.

Within two weeks of receiving the activity kit, almost three-fourths of WIC mothers reported using it at least four times throughout the week. WIC mothers also reported increased confidence in their ability to teach play skills to their children and increases in the time their child spent in active play throughout the day.

Obese children⁷

Text

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
   
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Overweight Prevalence”; June 20, 2008.
   
   Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. “Tracking Progress: Third Annual Arkansas Assessment of Childhood and
   Adolescent Obesity”; August 2006.
   
   
3. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Child Health Survey, 2008.
   
   
4. The Center for Weight and Health, FIT WIC.
   

Charts

5. Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Children’s Health, 2003 and 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
6. Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
7. Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.