Table 2.
Weight Category for New York City Latino Public School Students, by Place of Birth and Sex, 2006/07–2016/17
| POB | United States (non-NYC) | NYC | South America | Central America | Dominican Republic | Puerto Rico | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | (nobs = 815,285) | (nobs = 494,589) | (nobs = 42,910) | (nobs = 18,062) | (nobs = 112,670) | (nobs = 21,697) | (nobs = 29,622) |
| Weight categorya–c | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) |
| Underweight | 19,455 (2.4) | 11,988 (2.4) | 941 (2.2) | 379 (2.1) | 3396 (2.8) | 539 (2.5) | 559 (1.9) |
| Healthy Weight | 453,121 (55.6) | 282,796 (57.2) | 29,072 (67.8) | 11,208 (62.1) | 75,122 (61.2) | 12,895 (59.4) | 17,899 (60.4) |
| Overweight | 173,929 (21.3) | 105,584 (21.4) | 8694 (20.3) | 3995 (22.1) | 25,709 (21.0) | 4135 (19.1) | 7192 (24.3) |
| Obese I | 113,927 (14.0) | 62,975 (12.7) | 3214 (7.5) | 1788 (9.9) | 13,143 (10.7) | 2782 (12.8) | 3077 (10.4) |
| Obese II | 38,689 (4.8) | 21,257 (4.3) | 647 (1.5) | 463 (2.6) | 3790 (3.1) | 917 (4.2) | 578 (2.0) |
| Obese III | 14,329 (1.8) | 8803 (1.8) | 188 (0.4) | 167 (0.9) | 1230 (1.0) | 343 (1.6) | 189 (0.6) |
| Boys | (nobs = 831,849) | (nobs = 498,349) | (nobs = 43,326) | (nobs = 19,951) | (nobs = 124,104) | (nobs = 20,985) | (nobs = 30,243) |
| Weight category | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) |
| Underweight | 25,903 (3.1) | 15,929 (3.2) | 1157 (2.7) | 472 (2.4) | 4280 (3.5) | 764 (3.6) | 882 (2.9) |
| Healthy Weight | 422,248 (50.8) | 262,278 (52.6) | 26,687 (61.6) | 11,953 (59.9) | 71,660 (57.7) | 11,832 (56.4) | 16,678 (55.2) |
| Overweight | 159,349 (19.2) | 95,736 (19.2) | 8846 (20.4) | 4003 (20.1) | 23,699 (19.1) | 3739 (17.8) | 6410 (21.2) |
| Obese I | 147,206 (17.7) | 82,589 (16.6) | 5080 (11.7) | 2512 (12.6) | 17,192 (13.9) | 2912 (13.9) | 4767 (15.8) |
| Obese II | 55,358 (6.7) | 30,057 (6.0) | 1137 (2.6) | 715 (3.4) | 5358 (4.3) | 1180 (5.6) | 1202 (4.0) |
| Obese III | 19,862 (2.4) | 10,631 (2.1) | 307 (0.7) | 218 (1.1) | 1610 (1.3) | 503 (2.4) | 262 (0.9) |
N = missing weight category, Boys: United States (non-NYC) n = 359,307; NYC n = 290,524; South America n = 23,832; Central America n = 13,012; Dominican Republic n = 77,498; Puerto Rico n = 18,720, and Mexico n = 21,848; Girls: United States (non-NYC) n = 311,662; NYC n = 259,604; South America n = 19,155; Central America n = 9680; Dominican Republic n = 66,510; Puerto Rico n = 17,052, and Mexico n = 17,111.
Over half (56%) of students had at least five repeated annual observations (range 1 to 11).
Weight category was defined according to Centers for Disease Control growth chart-derived norms for sex and age in months, and used to compute the BMI percentile for each child. Weight categories categorized as underweight: <the 5th percentile; healthy weight: ≥5th to <85th percentile; overweight: ≥85th to <95th percentile; obesity class I: ≥95th percentile-120% of the 95th percentile; obesity class II: ≥120% of the 95th percentile; and obesity class III: ≥140% of the 95th percentile.