Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011–2012

Importance More than one-third of adults and 17% of youth in the United States are obese, although the prevalence remained stable between 2003-2004 and 2009-2010. Objective To provide the most recent national estimates of childhood obesity, analyze trends in childhood obesity between 2003 and 2012, and provide detailed obesity trend analyses among adults. Design, Setting, and Participants Weight and height or recumbent length were measured in 9120 participants in the 2011-2012 nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Main Outcomes and Measures In infants and toddlers from birth to 2 years, high weight for recumbent length was defined as weight for length at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts. In children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific CDC BMI-for-age growth charts. In adults, obesity was defined as a BMI greater than or equal to 30. Analyses of trends in high weight for recumbent length or obesity prevalence were conducted overall and separately by age across 5 periods (2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007-2008, 2009-2010, and 2011-2012). Results In 2011-2012, 8.1% (95% CI, 5.8%-11.1%) of infants and toddlers had high weight for recumbent length, and 16.9% (95% CI, 14.9%-19.2%) of 2- to 19-year-olds and 34.9% (95% CI, 32.0%-37.9%) of adults (age-adjusted) aged 20 years or older were obese. Overall, there was no significant change from 2003-2004 through 2011-2012 in high weight for recumbent length among infants and toddlers, obesity in 2- to 19-year-olds, or obesity in adults. Tests for an interaction between survey period and age found an interaction in children ( P  = .03) and women ( P  = .02). There was a significant decrease in obesity among 2- to 5-year-old children (from 13.9% to 8.4%; P  = .03) and a significant increase in obesity among women aged 60 years and older (from 31.5% to 38.1%; P  = .006). Conclusions and Relevance Overall, there have been no significant changes in obesity prevalence in youth or adults between 2003-2004 and 2011-2012. Obesity prevalence remains high and thus it is important to continue surveillance.

[1]  N. Chu.  Prevalence of obesity in Taiwan , 2005, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[2]  Lynne Stokes.  Introduction to Variance Estimation , 2008 .

[3]  Shumei S. Guo,et al.  CDC GROWTH CHARTS FOR THE UNITED STATES: METHODS AND DEVELOPMENT 2000 , 2002 .

[4]  T. Taufa,et al.  Health statistics. , 1986, Papua and New Guinea medical journal.

[5]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of obesity among adults: United States, 2011-2012. , 2013, NCHS data brief.

[6]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999-2010. , 2012, JAMA.

[7]  P. Deurenberg,et al.  Asians are different from Caucasians and from each other in their body mass index/body fat per cent relationship , 2002, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[8]  K. Flegal,et al.  Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: data from nine countries. , 2011, International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[9]  K. Flegal,et al.  High adiposity and high body mass index-for-age in US children and adolescents overall and by race-ethnic group. , 2010, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[10]  W. Kiess,et al.  Age-specific stabilization in obesity prevalence in German children: a cross-sectional study from 1999 to 2008. , 2011, International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[11]  Tamara B Harris,et al.  Comparisons of percentage body fat, body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-stature ratio in adults. , 2009, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[12]  C. Nishida,et al.  Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies , 2004, The Lancet.

[13]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999-2010. , 2012, JAMA.

[14]  Shumei S. Guo,et al.  2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development. , 2002, Vital and health statistics. Series 11, Data from the National Health Survey.

[15]  Laura Kettel Khan,et al.  Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States. , 2009, MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports.

[16]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  Changes in terminology for childhood overweight and obesity. , 2010, National health statistics reports.

[17]  Trends in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Diet, and BMI Among US Adolescents, 2001–2009 , 2013, Pediatrics.

[18]  J L Collins,et al.  Youth risk behavior surveillance--United States, 1993. , 1995, The Journal of school health.

[19]  I E Buchan,et al.  Slowing down of adult body mass index trend increases in England: a latent class analysis of cross-sectional surveys (1992–2010) , 2014, International Journal of Obesity.

[20]  K. Kleinman,et al.  Decreasing Prevalence of Obesity Among Young Children in Massachusetts From 2004 to 2008 , 2012, Pediatrics.

[21]  Lawrence J Appel,et al.  Prevalence of obesity in the United States. , 2014, JAMA.

[22]  E. Jelalian,et al.  Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation , 2012 .

[23]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of obesity in the United States, 2009-2010. , 2012, NCHS data brief.

[24]  Chris J. Skinner,et al.  Analysis of complex surveys , 1991 .

[25]  C. Ogden,et al.  Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Extreme Obesity Among Adults: United States, Trends 1960-1962 Through 2009-2010 , 2012 .

[26]  Connie Lim,et al.  Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States, 2011. , 2012, Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries.

[27]  Regina M. Benjamin,et al.  The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation , 2010, Public health reports.

[28]  S. Heymsfield,et al.  Human body composition and the epidemiology of chronic disease. , 1995, Obesity research.

[29]  L. Grummer-Strawn,et al.  Use of World Health Organization and CDC Growth Charts for Children Aged 0–59 Months in the United States (Excerpt) , 2010, Clinical Lactation.

[30]  M. Lazar,et al.  The Health Risk of Obesity—Better Metrics Imperative , 2013, Science.

[31]  U. Bauer,et al.  [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]. , 2000, Annales de dermatologie et de venereologie.