NEW YORK, NY — The obesity rate among children between 10 and 17 years old in America is 15.8 percent, according to a new report from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The nonpartisan philanthropic and research group, dedicated to improving the country’s health, released its report Wednesday, finding that nearly one in six young people are obese, putting them at a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
The 2016-17 national obesity rate was down slightly from 16.1 percent in 2016 alone. The drop was not enough to be deemed statistically significant.
The authors noted there are significant disparities along racial lines. Obesity rates were “significantly” higher among black and Hispanic children than among white and Asian kids. Black children had the highest rate at 22.5 percent followed by Hispanic youths at 20.6 percent. That number was 12.5 percent for white youths and just 6.4 percent for Asian kids.
Mississippi had the highest obesity rate among kids ages 10-17 at 26.1 percent, followed by West Virginia and Kentucky. Here are the 10 states with the highest proportion of obese kids:
Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates are located in the South, the organization highlighted. Meanwhile, nine of the 10 states with the lowest rates are located either in the West or Northwest.
Two states had rates under 10 percent, with Utah pacing the country at 8.7 percent followed by New Hampshire at 9.8 percent. Washington, Minnesota and Wyoming rounded out the five states with the smallest percent of obese children.
If there was a “most improved” award, it would go to North Dakota, which saw its youth obesity rate drop from 15.8 percent in 2016 all the way to 12.5 percent in the combined 2016-17 dataset. It was the only state to see a statistically significant change.
The study used data from the 2016-17 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is based on parent reports of their kids’ heights and weights. The parent reports are used to calculate body-mass index, or BMI. BMI is used to calculate percentiles in different age groups and identify children who are obese.
The survey was significantly redesigned before the 2016 report, the authors said, so it is impossible to directly compare results from the 2016 or 2017 survey to previous versions.
Scientists predict more than 50 percent of today’s kids will be obese by age 35 if current trends continue, the report noted. To change that future, the authors recommended federal lawmakers strengthen vital nutrition programs for low-income children and expand programs to make healthy foods more accessible, among other things.
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