Executive Summary

Section One

Section Two

Section Three

References

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Credits

Graphs

Obesity:
Facts, Figures, Guidelines

Section One - continued
U.S. OBESITY PREVALENCE

Obesity Prevalence among Adults. The United States has the unwanted distinction of leading the way in obesity prevalence. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC, used data from the National Health Examination Survey (NHES I: 1960-62) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys I, II, and III (NHANES I: 1971-74; NHANES II: 1976-80; NHANES III: 1988-94) to compare prevalences of overweight and obesity among the nation's adults over nearly half a century (29). The researchers used the BMI categories listed on page 6. Overall, the

Body Mass Chart
Weight x Height

Under Weight

Healthy Weight

Over Weight

Obese

BMI	Height
	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76
Weight	4'10"	4'11"	5'0"	5'1"	5'2"	5'3"	5'4"	5'5"	5'6"	5'7"	5'8"	5'9"	5'10'	5'11"	6'0"	6'1"	6'2"	6'3"	6'4"
100	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	14	14	14	13	13	13	12
105	22	21	21	20	19	18	18	18	17	16	16	16	15	15	14	14	14	13	13
110	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	15	14	14	13
115	24	23	23	22	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	14	14
120	25	24	23	23	22	51	21	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	15
125	26	25	24	24	23	52	22	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	17	17	16	16	15
130	27	26	25	25	24	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16
135	28	27	26	26	25	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16
140	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	17
145	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	18
150	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	18
155	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19
160	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21	20	20
165	35	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21	20
170	36	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21
175	37	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	23	22	21
180	38	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	23	22
185	39	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	23
190	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23
195	41	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24
200	42	40	39	38	37	36	34	33	32	31	30	30	29	28	27	26	26	25	24
205	43	41	40	39	38	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	29	28	27	26	26	25
210	44	43	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	29	28	27	26	26
215	45	44	42	41	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	26
220	46	45	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	27
225	47	46	44	43	41	40	39	38	36	35	34	33	32	31	31	30	29	28	27
230	48	47	45	44	42	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	30	29	28
235	49	48	46	44	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	29
240	50	49	47	45	44	43	41	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29
245	51	50	48	46	45	43	42	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	32	31	30
250	52	51	49	47	46	44	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30
255	53	52	50	48	47	45	44	43	41	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31
260	54	53	51	49	48	46	45	43	42	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	33	32
265	56	54	52	50	49	47	46	44	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32
270	57	55	53	51	49	48	46	45	44	42	41	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33
275	58	56	54	52	50	49	47	46	44	43	42	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	34
280	59	57	55	53	51	50	48	47	45	44	43	41	40	39	38	37	36	35	34
285	60	58	56	54	52	51	49	48	46	45	43	42	41	40	39	38	37	36	35
290	61	59	57	55	53	51	50	48	47	46	44	43	42	41	39	38	37	36	35
295	62	60	58	56	54	52	51	49	48	46	45	44	42	41	40	39	38	37	36
300	63	61	59	57	55	53	52	50	49	47	46	44	43	42	41	40	39	38	37

GROWTH CHARTS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTSage-adjusted prevalence of overweight among adults aged 20-74 changed little over the time period (NHES I: 30.5%; NHANES I: 32.0%; NHANES II: 31.5%: and NHANES III: 32%). Obesity prevalence (BMI 30.0+), however, increased dramatically between NHANES II and NHANES III (NHES I: 12.8%: NHANES I: 14.1%; NHANES II: 14.5%; and NHANES III: 22.5%). The trends were consistent for all age, gender, and racial groups.

Growth Charts for Children and Adolescents

PDF Verson

PDF Verion

In 2000, the BRFSS (18) estimated a median obesity prevalence of 20.4% among adults, a slightly lower prevalence than that from NHANES III due to the inclusion of adults aged 18-19 and 75+, two groups traditionally less likely to be overweight or obese². Overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9) was estimated at 36.7%, leaving only 42.9% of adult Americans not at risk for health problems related to excess weight. In West Virginia, the obesity prevalence in 2000 was 23.2%, 5th highest in the nation. Another 36.5% of adults were overweight (19).

Overweight Prevalence among Children and Adolescents. The number of overweight children and adolescents, i.e., those with a BMI of equal to or greater than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex, increased by 100% between NHANES II in 1980 and NHANES III in 1994 (31). According to NHANES III data, approximately 14% of children in the U.S. were overweight at the beginning of the 1990s, increasing to about one in five by adolescence (32), and preliminary findings from NHANES IV suggest that childhood overweight continues to increase (31).

Strauss and Pollack analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to ascertain trends in overweight prevalence among 8,270 U.S. children aged four to 12 in 1986 who were followed until 1998. The researchers examined overweight by sex, race/ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white), family income level, and region of residence. Their findings showed that overweight increased from 1986-1998 among all demographic variables studied. The largest increases, however, occurred among boys, African Americans, Hispanics, and children living in the southern states (33). Over the study period, overweight increased more than 120% among African Americans and Hispanics and by more than 50% among white children. They also found that the relative weight of overweight children also increased, indicating that the severity as well as the prevalence of overweight has increased. The racial and ethnic disparities were found to remain even when controlling for family income. The same general trends appeared when the researchers examined those children at risk for overweight (BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles).

²While NHANES weight and height were measured by health professionals, BRFSS data are self reported, and several studies have found that participants in self-reported studies tend to underestimate their weight and overestimate their height; thus, the true rates of obesity are likely to be underestimated (30). In addition, persons without telephones are not surveyed through BRFSS. These persons are likely of lower socioeconomic status, a demographic factor associated with obesity. Return To Text

Continue Section One:

• Obesity and Comorbid Conditions
• Obesity and Mortality
• The Economic Costs of Obesity
• Treatment of Obesity
• Top of Page

If you have questions concerning sections one and two of this report, contact the West Virginia Health Statistic Center (HSC) at (304) 558-9100 or dhhrvitalreg@wv.gov.
If you have questions concerning secton three of this report, contact the Division of Health Promotion at (304) 558-0644. I