Overweight Children and Adolescents: Description, Epidemiology, and Demographics

Pediatrics. 1998;101(Suppl 2):497-504

This article is part of a 1998 supplement to the journal Pediatrics “The Causes and Health Consequences of Obesity in Children and Adolescents.”

Abstract: We describe prevalence and trends in overweight among children and adolescents (6 to 17 years old) in the us population and variation in the prevalence by sex, age, race-ethnicity, income, and educational level. Height and weight were measured in nationally representative surveys conducted between 1963 and 1994; cycles II (1963 to 1965) and III (1966 to 1970) of the National Health Examination Survey (NHES I and II) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I, 1971 to 1974; NHANES II, 1976 to 1980: and NHANES III, 1988 to 1994). Overweight was defined by age- and sex-specific 95th percentile of body mass index (BMI) from NHES II and III. BMI values between the 85th and 95th percentiles were considered an area of concern, because at this level there is increased risk for becoming overweight.

Approximately 11% of children and adolescents were overweight in 1988 to 1994, and an additional 14& have a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles. The prevalence of overweight did not vary systematically with race-ethnicity, income, or education. Overweight prevalence increased over time, with the largest increase between NHANES II and NHANES III. Examination of the entire BMI distribution showed that the heaviest children were markedly heavier in NHANES III than in NHES, but the rest of the distribution showed little change.

Data are limited for assessing the causes of rapid change in the prevalence of overweight. The increased overweight prevalence in US children and adolescents may be one manifestation of a more general set of societal effects. Childhood overweight should be addressed from a public health perspective.

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All Articles in This Supplement

• Overweight Children and Adolescents: Description, Epidemiology, and Demographics (Troiano RP, Flegal KM, pp. 497-504)
• Measurement Issues Related to Studies of Childhood Obesity: Assessment of Body Composition, Body Fat Distribution, Physical Activity, and Food Intake (Goran MI, pp. 505-518)
• Health Consequences of Obesity in Youth: Childhood Predictors of Adult Disease (Dietz WH, pp. 518-525)
• The Physiology of Body Weight Regulation: Relevance to the Etiology of Obesity in Children (Rosenbaum M, Leibel RL, pp. 525-539)
• Development of Eating Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents (Birch LL, Fisher JO, pp. 539-549)
• Development of Physical Activity Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents (Kohl HW, Hobbs KE, pp. 549-554)
• Treatment of Pediatric Obesity (Epstein LH, Myers MD, Raynor HA, Saelens BE, pp. 554-570)
• Childhood Obesity: Future Directions and Research Priorities (Hill JO, Trowbridge FL, pp. 570-574)