Chronic Disease - Burden of Chronic Diseases 2002 - Risk Factors/Preventive Services

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Section III
Risk Factors and Use of Preventive Services, United States

Overweight Among High School Students

The obesity epidemic is not limited to adults. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the percentage of adolescents who are overweight has more than doubled during the past two decades. Overweight children are at risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other serious health problems. Overweight or obesity that begins in childhood or adolescence may continue into adulthood and increase the risk later in life for heart disease, gallbladder disease, and some types of cancer.

In 1999, 10% of U.S. high school students were over- weight, and 16% were at risk of becoming overweight.

Male students were more likely than female students to be overweight.

In 1999, the percentage of high school students who reported being overweight in the states collecting this information ranged from 5% in Utah to 13% in Mississippi.

Percentage of High School Students Who Reported Being Overweight,* 1999

Percentage of High School Students Who Reported Being Overweight, 1999. Data in tabular format follows.

*Body mass index at or above the 95th percentile by age and sex.
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

Percentage of High School Students Who Reported Being Overweight,* by Sex, Race, and Ethnicity, 1999

State†	Total	Male	Female	White‡	Black‡	Hispanic‡	Other‡
Alabama	11.1	14.6	7.4	9.5	15.0	–	–
Alaska¹	7.3	8.3	6.2	6.4	–	–	9.8
Arizona
Arkansas	10.9	12.8	8.8	10.7	12.4	–	–
California
Colorado
Connecticut^§	9.1	11.3	6.8	7.5	14.4	11.9	9.3
Delaware	9.1	11.1	7.0	7.3	12.5	12.6	10.2
District of Columbia	12.3	12.7	11.8	–	12.5	16.0	–
Florida^§	8.6	10.3	6.8	7.2	12.6	8.9	8.5
Georgia
Hawaii	9.0	11.1	7.0	4.8	–	7.7	9.7
Idaho
Illinois^§²	8.3	10.4	6.1	6.4	18.2	–	–
Indiana
Iowa^§	8.1	9.6	6.7	7.7	–	–	–
Kansas
Kentucky^§	12.0	15.4	8.9	11.5	15.7	–	–
Louisiana^§³	12.0	12.9	11.0	9.0	14.4	–	–
Maine^§	8.6	11.1	6.1	8.7	–	–	–
Maryland
Massachusetts	7.3	9.0	5.5	6.8	9.9	10.8	5.4
Michigan	9.9	12.2	7.6	9.0	16.4	–	5.9
Minnesota
Mississippi	13.1	16.6	9.9	9.4	16.8	–	–
Missouri	7.8	9.9	5.6	7.0	9.3	–	–
Montana	5.5	7.1	3.7	5.0	–	–	7.0
Nebraska^§	6.4	8.4	4.6	5.8	–	–	–
Nevada	6.4	8.5	4.1	4.7	–	7.2	12.3
New Hampshire^§	9.1	12.3	6.0	9.0	–	–	11.9
New Jersey^§⁴	7.4	9.2	5.6	6.7	–	9.8	4.7
New Mexico^§	6.6	7.1	6.1	4.4	–	8.0	11.3
New York	7.6	9.7	5.4	7.0	10.9	8.4	6.5
North Carolina
North Dakota	6.7	9.2	3.9	6.3	–	–	10.8
Ohio	9.6	11.2	7.9	9.2	8.6	–	14.9
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina	10.7	12.3	9.1	7.9	14.3	9.5	8.8
South Dakota	6.4	7.9	4.8	6.3	–	–	–
Tennessee⁵	11.9	14.6	9.2	10.8	16.5	–	–
Texas
Utah	4.9	6.5	3.2	4.5	–	–	3.0
Vermont	7.5	9.2	5.8	7.6	–	–	7.2
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia	12.2	15.8	8.3	12.4	–	–	–
Wisconsin	8.9	9.8	7.9	8.2	–	–	–
Wyoming	5.5	8.8	2.1	4.9	–	6.8	–
United States	9.9	11.9	7.9	9.2	11.9	12.4	9.7

*Body mass index at or above the 95th percentile by age and sex.
† States with no data shown did not conduct a Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 1999.
‡ A dash indicates that the state sample had too few respondents (fewer than 100) in this category to calculate a stable estimate.
§ Unweighted data.
1 Excludes students from Anchorage.
2 Excludes students from Chicago.
3 Excludes students from New Orleans.
4 Excludes 18% of the total high school population studied in a separate survey.
5 Excludes students from Nashville.
Source: CDC, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

This page last reviewed August 10, 2004

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion