Youth Fitness Facts

Statistics on adolescent obesity in America:

• About 15 percent of children and adolescents ages 6-19 years are seriously overweight.
• The percentage of children and adolescents who are defined as overweight has nearly tripled since the early 1970s.
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• Over 10 percent of preschool children between ages 2 and 5 are overweight.
• Another 15 percent of children and teens ages 6-19 are considered at risk of becoming overweight.
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• Researchers found that lowered self-esteem was associated with being overweight in girls as young as 5.
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• 1 in 5 children in the U.S. are overweight.
• Children with obesity, ages 10-13, are reported to have a 70% likelihood of obesity persisting into adult years.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC), 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)