A study published in Obesity shows that rates of childhood overweight and obesity have not decreased in the United States in recent years, and severe obesity is on the rise, especially for minority children. According to lead researcher Asheley Skinner of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, 10% of teenagers now have severe obesity.
The researchers used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 through 2014 for children aged 2–19. During that time, all classes of obesity continued to increase, in particular severe obesity for children and teens, which usually means being at least 100 pounds overweight. In 2013 and 2014, 33% of children were overweight and 17% percent were obese. Obesity increased over time for teens of both sexes, and was consistently more common for African American and Hispanic children than for Caucasian children.
According to a commentary published with the study report by William Dietz of George Washington University, it is important to note that relying on NHANES data alone doesn’t provide conclusive information on the obesity epidemic. For instance, another analysis which also used NHANES data but started in the 2003 cycle instead of the 1999 cycle concluded that obesity among kids and teens did not change over time, and obesity among kids aged 2–5 fell over time from 14% to 8%.
