Table 1.
National Prevalence of Obesity among Children between the Ages of 5 and 14 Years (1998–2007).*
| Variable | No. of Children |
Prevalence of Obesity (95% CI) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten, Fall Semester: Mean Age, 5.6 Yr |
Kindergarten, Spring Semester: Mean Age, 6.1 Yr |
First Grade, Fall Semester: Mean Age, 6.6 Yr† |
First Grade, Spring Semester: Mean Age, 7.1 Yr |
Third Grade, Fall Semester: Mean Age, 9.1 Yr |
Fifth Grade, Spring Semester: Mean Age, 11.1 Yr |
Eighth Grade, Fall Semester: Mean Age, 14.1 Yr |
||
| All children | 7738 | 12.4 (11.2–13.7) | 12.2 (11.0–13.5) | 12.6 (10.4–15.1) | 13.0 (11.9–14.3) | 18.6 (17.3–19.9) | 21.9 (20.4–23.4) | 20.8 (19.1–22.5) |
| Boys | 3865 | 13.4 (11.6–15.5) | 13.3 (11.5–15.3) | 14.1 (10.6–18.3) | 14.1 (12.2–16.2) | 19.4 (17.6–21.4) | 23.6 (21.5–25.9) | 23.5 (21.3–25.9) |
| Girls | 3873 | 11.2 (9.7–12.9) | 11.0 (9.6–12.7) | 11.1 (8.7–14.1) | 11.9 (10.3–13.7) | 17.6 (15.9–19.5) | 20.0 (17.9–22.2) | 17.8 (15.6–20.2) |
| Socioeconomic quintile‡ | ||||||||
| 1 | 1025 | 13.8 (11.5–16.5) | 12.6 (10.5–15.1) | 15.6 (10.8–21.9) | 14.7 (12.1–17.7) | 20.1 (17.4–23.0) | 25.2 (21.8–28.9) | 24.1 (19.9–28.9) |
| 2 | 1278 | 16.5 (12.8–21.0) | 17.4 (14.1–21.3) | 18.1 (12.6–25.4) | 15.7 (12.5–19.6) | 23.5 (20.0–27.3) | 25.5 (21.8–29.7) | 25.8 (21.4–30.6) |
| 3 | 1484 | 12.0 (9.3–15.3) | 13.4 (10.5–16.9) | 12.3 (8.1–18.2) | 16.2 (13.0–20.0) | 20.7 (17.6–24.3) | 25.7 (22.2–29.5) | 24.2 (20.5–28.3) |
| 4 | 1594 | 12.2 (9.3–15.8) | 11.5 (8.8–15.0) | 12.8 (8.6–18.5) | 11.4 (8.9–14.5) | 17.8 (14.5–21.6) | 20.9 (17.4–24.9) | 20.5 (16.8–24.8) |
| 5 | 2047 | 7.4 (5.6–9.7) | 6.6 (5.0–8.6) | 5.2 (3.2–8.4) | 7.0 (5.4–9.1) | 10.8 (8.8–13.3) | 12.3 (10.2–14.9) | 11.4 (9.1–14.2) |
| Race or ethnic group§ | ||||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 4822 | 10.3 (8.9–12.0) | 9.3 (7.9–11.0) | 9.7 (7.1–13.3) | 10.6 (9.2–12.3) | 14.6 (13.1–16.2) | 17.9 (16.2–19.8) | 17.0 (15.3–18.9) |
| Non-Hispanic black | 762 | 12.5 (9.4–16.6) | 13.7 (10.4–17.9) | 14.4 (9.3–21.5) | 14.0 (10.7–18.1) | 22.3 (17.9–27.4) | 26.8 (22.0–32.1) | 27.1 (21.4–33.7) |
| Hispanic | 1301 | 17.8 (15.0–20.9) | 18.8 (15.7–22.4) | 19.5 (14.3–26.0) | 18.6 (15.6–22.0) | 27.2 (23.7–30.9) | 29.2 (25.3–33.5) | 26.6 (23.1–30.5) |
| Other | 853 | 14.5 (10.6–19.5) | 15.3 (11.4–20.2) | 13.2 (8.2–20.7) | 16.1 (11.8–21.5) | 19.5 (15.2–24.8) | 23.0 (17.8–29.1) | 20.8 (15.3–27.7) |
| Birth weight¶ | ||||||||
| <2500 g | 711 | 9.3 (6.1–14.0) | 10.4 (7.0–15.1) | 9.8 (5.5–16.8) | 12.4 (9.4–16.2) | 15.2 (11.3–20.2) | 19.0 (14.8–24.2) | 19.5 (15.2–24.7) |
| 2500–3999 g | 6035 | 11.2 (10.0–12.5) | 11.1 (10.0–12.4) | 12.0 (9.9–14.5) | 11.8 (10.5–13.3) | 17.8 (16.4–19.3) | 20.9 (19.2–22.8) | 19.4 (17.7–21.2) |
| ≥4000 g | 915 | 22.5 (18.1–27.5) | 21.1 (16.3–26.8) | 21.7 (13.5–33.1) | 21.3 (17.0–26.4) | 26.3 (21.7–31.4) | 30.9 (25.5–36.8) | 31.2 (25.8–37.2) |
Data are from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999.8 CI denotes confidence interval.
The fall semester of first grade was a random subsample of the entire cohort consisting of 2277 children.
Quintiles range from the lowest fifth (1) to the highest fifth (5). Data on socioeconomic status were missing for 310 children, so the numbers in the subcategories do not total 7738.
Race or ethnic group was reported by parents of the children or collected from school records. The category designated as “other” includes Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, and multiracial background.
Data on birth weight were missing for 77 children, so the numbers in the subcategories do not total 7738.