What is the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents?
While there is no generally accepted definition for obesity as distinct from overweight in children and adolescents, the prevalence of overweight is increasing for children and adolescents in the United States. Approximately 11 percent of children (ages 6-11) and 11 percent of adolescents (ages 12-17) were overweight* in 1988 to 1994–up from approximately 5 percent in the 1960s and 1970s.11 * Overweight is defined by the sex- and age-specific 95th percentile cutoff points of the revised NCHS/CDC growth charts (preliminary data). The revised growth charts incorporate smoothed BMI percentiles and are based on data from NHES II (1963-1965) and III (1966-1970), and NHANES I (1971-1974), II (1976-1980), and III (1988-1994). Q: What is the prevalence of overweight and obesity in people with diabetes? A: Among persons who have been diagnosed with type 2 (noninsulin-dependent) diabetes, 67 percent have a BMI 27 and 46 percent have a BMI 30. 12 An estimated 15.6 million adults in the U.S. (8 p
