Table 1.
Number and percent of fourth-grade children in the sample of 920 children for the four BMI percentile categories and overall by sex, school year, and socioeconomic status (SES).
| BMI Percentile Category1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underweight/Healthy Weight | Overweight | Obese | Severely Obese | Overall | |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 228 (54%) | 74 (18%) | 73 (17%) | 44 (11%) | 419 (46%) |
| Female | 238 (48%) | 104 (21%) | 103 (21%) | 56 (11%) | 501 (54%) |
| School Year | |||||
| 2005–2006 | 328 (53%) | 121 (20%) | 107 (17%) | 61 (10%) | 617 (67%) |
| 2006–2007 | 138 (46%) | 57 (19%) | 69 (23%) | 39 (13%) | 303 (33%) |
| SES2 | |||||
| Low | 398 (52%) | 144 (19%) | 147 (19%) | 81 (11%) | 770 (84%) |
| High | 68 (45%) | 34 (23%) | 29 (19%) | 19 (13%) | 150 (16%) |
| Total | 466 | 178 | 176 | 100 | 920 |
BMI percentile categories were defined as underweight (< 5th percentile), healthy weight (≥ 5th and < 85th percentile), overweight (≥ 85th and < 95th percentile), obese (≥ 95th percentile and < 99th percentile) and severely obese (≥ 99th percentile). These categorical definitions were based on the Expert Committee’s 2007 recommendation.16 For the current article’s analyses, the underweight and healthy-weight categories were combined due to low frequency in the underweight category.
SES was determined by the individual child’s eligibility for free/reduced-price school meals. “Low” indicates that the child was eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, and “high” indicates that the child was not eligible, and, thus paid full price. To be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, children’s families must have incomes ≤ 130% or between 130% and 185% of the poverty level, respectively.24