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Show Childhood Obesity Compiled by Erin Maughan 1999 Utah Overweight Adolescents: 14% The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), using the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS), measures high school students perceptions of their obesity; and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) gathers data on children 6-19 years of age. Projects are currently underway in Utah to collect heights and weights of elementary school children. Studies indicate that overweight adolescents tend to become overweight adults. Another great concern is the increased prevalence of Type II diabetes and asthma among the childhood population, which is linked to increased levels of childhood obesity. Data indicate that since the early 1970s, the percentage of youth defined as overweight has more than doubled; and continues to be on the rise. The YRBS does provide data for high school-age youth, which shows Utah is below the national average but following the same trend. Healthy People 2010 includes a goal to decrease the proportion of obese children and adolescents by half (11% to 5%). Increased efforts to decrease childhood obesity focus on cultivating lifelong healthy habits among children. Strategies include increasing the physical activity and health education classes in the school setting, decreasing soda and candy vending machines in the school, providing a greater variety of health food choices, and providing public areas for outdoor recreation. Table 55. Percent of Children and Adolescents who are Over- weight, 1971-1999 Children Adolescents Year (age 6-11 years) (age 12-19 years) 1971-1974 4% 6% 1976-1980 7% 5% 1988-1994 11% 11% 1999 13% 14% •Utah----------U.S. 0 1991 1999 Figure 37. Percentage of High School Students Describing Themselves as "Slightly" or "Very" Overweight, Utah and U.S., 1991-1999. Sources: Division of Community and Family Health Services (CFHS) (2000). CFHS Division Plan and Report, 2001. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah Department of Health. National Center for Health Statistics (1999). Prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents: United States, 1999. Centers for Disease Control. [Online] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overwght99.htm/. Retrieved 4/2/02. National Center for Health Statistics. (1999). Youth Risk Behavioral Survey 1999. Centers for Disease Control. [Online] http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/YRBSS/ listv.asp?site=ut/. Retrieved 4/2/02 . Office of Genetics & Disease Prevention. (2002). Obesity and Genetics: A Public Health Perspective. Center for Disease Control. [Online] http://www. cdc.gov/genomics/info/perspectives/obesity.htm/. Retrieved 3/11/02. Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume VIII 93 |
