OVERWEIGHT CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS - DESCRIPTION, EPIDEMIOLOGY, AND DEMOGRAPHICS

We describe prevalence and trends in overweight among children and ado lescents (6 to 17 years old) in the US population and variation in the prevalence by sex, age, race-ethnicity, income, and educational level . Height and weight were measured in nationally representative surveys conducted between 1963 and 1994: cycles II (1963 to 1965) and III (19 66 to 1970) of the National Health Examination Survey (NHES) and the N ational Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I, 1971 to 19 74; NHANES II, 1976 to 1980; and NHANES III, 1988 to 1994). Overweight was defined by the age-and sex-specific 95th percentile of body mass index (BMI) from NHES II and III. BMI values between the 85th and 95th percentiles were considered an area of concern, because at this level there is increased risk for becoming overweight. Approximately 11% of children and adolescents were overweight in 1988 to 1994, and an addi tional 14% had a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentiles. The preval ence of overweight did not vary systematically with race-ethnicity, in come, or education. overweight prevalence increased over time, with th e largest increase between NHANES II and NHANES III. Examination of th e entire BMI distribution showed that the heaviest children were marke dly heavier in NHANES III than in NHES, but the rest of the distributi on of BMI showed little change. Data are limited for assessing the cau ses of the rapid change in the prevalence of overweight. The increased overweight prevalence in US children and adolescents may be one manif estation of a more general set of societal effects. Childhood overweig ht should be addressed from a public health perspective.