Epidemiology

Obesity in children and adolescents is a global health issue with increasing prevalence in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) as well as a high prevalence in many high-income countries.[8] In 2019, the World Obesity Federation estimated there would be 206 million children and adolescents ages 5–19 years living with obesity in 2025, and 254 million in 2030.[9] Data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) demonstrate that the prevalence of obesity among US children has been increasing since 1990.[5] Boys and girls are affected equally.[5]

NHANES data from 2017 to 2018 showed that 13.4% of 2- to 5-year-olds, 20.3% of children ages 6 to 11 years, and 21.2% of people ages 12 to 19 years had obesity.[10]

Non-Hispanic African-American children and Hispanic children had higher prevalence of overweight and all classes of obesity compared with other races. Asian-American children had markedly lower rates of overweight and all classes of obesity.[5] Native American and Alaska Native children have a high prevalence of severe obesity, and obesity develops at a younger age in this population.[11]

Overall estimates of childhood obesity tend to be higher in the US as compared with other countries.[5] The National Child Measurement Programme in England 2020-2021 report found obesity prevalence among 4 and 5-year-olds rose from 9.9% in 2019-2020 to 14.4% in 2020-2021. In England, data collected from mainstream state-maintained schools demonstrated that the prevalence of children ages 4-5 (those in “reception” school classes) living with obesity in England during 2021-2022 was over twice as high in the most deprived areas (13.6%) than in the least deprived areas (6.2%). This difference was also seen in ages 10-11 (those in "Year 6" school classes) with 31.3% living with obesity in the most deprived areas compared with 13.5% in the least deprived areas.[12][13]

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