The Rise in Childhood Obesity Rates

Among preschool children ages 2 to 5, the rate of obesity increased from 5 percent to 10.4 percent between 1976–1980 and 2007–2008. Obesity rates also increased dramatically among  6- to 11-year-olds (from 4.2% to 19.6% between 1963–1965 and 2007–2008) and among 12- to 19-year-olds (from 4.6% to 18.1% between 1966–1970 and 2007–2008).

Source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Significant Racial Disparities

In 2007–2008, non-Hispanic Black adolescent girls (29.2%) were significantly more likely to be obese compared with their non-Hispanic White counterparts (14.5%). The prevalence of obesity also was significantly higher among Mexican-American adolescent boys (26.8%) than among non-Hispanic White adolescent boys (16.7%).

Source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Reduced Life Expectancies

Unless the childhood obesity epidemic is reversed, experts warn that excess weight could reduce average life expectancy by five years or more over the next several decades.

Source:  The New England Journal of Medicine

More Cases of Diabetes

Researchers estimate that one out of every three boys and two out of every five girls born in the United States in the year 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes during their lifetimes.

Source:  Journal of the American Medical Association

Higher Cholesterol

Obese and overweight youths are more likely to have key risk factors for cardiovascular disease than their peers. A national study of 12- to 17-year-olds found that 42.9 percent of obese youths and 22.3 percent of overweight youths had unhealthy cholesterol or triglyceride levels, compared with only 14.2 percent of their normal-weight peers.

Source:  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Obesity's Link to Asthma

Overweight and obesity are associated with a 52 percent increased risk of a new diagnosis of asthma among children and adolescents.

Source:  American Journal of Epidemiology

Adolescent Pathway to Adult Obesity

Obese adolescents are more likely to become obese adults. Among 16- and 17-year-olds, 80 percent of obese boys and 92 percent of obese girls will become obese adults, while only 21 percent of peers who are neither obese nor overweight will become obese adults.

Source:  Journal of Adolescent Health

Cost of Adult Obesity

The medical cost of adult obesity in the United States is difficult to calculate, but estimates range from $147 billion to nearly $210 billion per year.

Sources:  Health Affairs, Journal of Health Economics

Cost of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity carries a huge price tag: up to $14 billion per year in health care costs alone.

Source:  Thomson Medstat Research Brief

Obesity Threatens National Security

Each year the Department of Defense spends about $1 billion per year on care for weight-related health problems and high obesity rates among young adults prohibit many who want to serve in the nation’s military from being able to do so.

Source:  Mission: Readiness

Junk Food in Schools

Students in the United States consume almost 400 billion calories from junk food sold at school each year.

Source: Mission: Readiness

School Snacks and Weight Gain

Children and teens in states with strong laws that restrict the sale of unhealthy snack foods and beverages in school gained less weight over a three-year period than those living in states with no such policies.

Source: Pediatrics

Calories from Sugary Drinks

Sugar-sweetened beverages are the number-one source of added sugars in Americans’ diets.

Source: Circulation

Tax on Sugary Drinks Could Cut Health and Cost Burdens of Obesity

Researchers estimate that a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could reduce consumption of those beverages by 15 percent among adults ages 25 to 64, and prevent thousands of heart attacks, strokes, cases of diabetes, and premature deaths. This could help prevent more than $17 billion in medical costs over 10 years.

Source: Health Affairs

Obesity to Skyrocket by 2030

If obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, by 2030, 13 states could have adult obesity rates above 60 percent, 39 states could have rates above 50 percent, and all 50 states could have rates above 44 percent.

Source: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health

Obesity Costs by 2030

If obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, by 2030, medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases are estimated to increase by $48 billion to $66 billion per year in the United States. The loss in economic productivity could be between $390 billion and $580 billion annually by 2030.

Source: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America’s Health

More Cases of Heart Disease

Researchers predict that, if current adolescent obesity rates continue, there will be more than 100,000 additional cases of coronary heart disease attributable to obesity by 2035.

Source:  The New England Journal of Medicine