State Childhood Obesity Rates

Posted on May 4, 2010 by townsend

• Oregon kids show decrease in obesity rates, By Joe Rojas-Burke, May 3, 2010, The Oregonian: “Kids in Oregon — unlike those in 49 other states — are getting leaner, a new study suggests. Problem is, experts can’t explain why Oregon has veered from the extreme weight-gain trend that continues at an alarming rate elsewhere. The prevalence of obesity among 10- to 17-year olds climbed 10 percent nationwide, and it doubled among girls in two states: Arizona and Kansas. But Oregon’s youth obesity rate fell by 32 percent between 2003 and 2007, researchers with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported this week. ‘It seems quite substantial,’ said Gopal Singh, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. ‘We don’t know precisely the reasons for it.’ Singh and others tracked obesity using the National Survey of Children’s Health, a telephone survey of parents. The researchers used height and weight to calculate whether children were overweight or obese…”
• Oregon has lowest rate of childhood obesity, By Carla K. Johnson (AP), May 3, 2010, Washington Post: “What’s the magic in Oregon that keeps kids lean? It’s a mystery health officials would like to solve as they admit all states are failing – by a mile – to meet federal goals for childhood obesity. Oregon has the nation’s lowest rate of hefty kids, according to a new government study, which found big gaps between regions and ballooning obesity rates in many states from 2003 to 2007. More than 16 percent of American children ages 10 to 17 years were not just overweight, but obese, in 2007. That’s a 10 percent rise from 2003. Mississippi topped the nation with more than a fifth of its kids obese. Oregon was the star, with the lowest rate of obesity – defined as body mass index in the 95th percentile or above – at just under 10 percent. And Oregon was the only state whose childhood obesity fell significantly from 2003 to 2007…”