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ILLINOIS — The obesity rate among children between 10 and 17 years old in Illinois is the 17th highest in the country, according to a new report from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The nonpartisan philanthropic and research group, dedicated to improving the country’s health, released its report Wednesday, finding that nearly one in six young people are obese, putting them at a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
The national obesity rate for youth between 10 and 17 years old in 2016-17 was 15.8 percent, the report said. That’s down from 16.1 percent in 2016 alone, though the drop was not enough to be deemed statistically significant.
In Illinois, that number in 2016-17 was 16.2 percent, up from 2016 alone.
The obesity rate among high school students in the state was 14.8 percent — 17th highest in the country — and 15.2 percent for children between 2 and 4 years old, 14th highest in America.
The authors noted there are significant disparities along racial lines. Obesity rates were “significantly” higher among black and Hispanic children than among white and Asian kids. Black children had the highest rate at 22.5 percent followed by Hispanic youths at 20.6 percent. That number for white youths was at 12.5 percent and was just 6.4 percent for Asian kids.
Mississippi had the highest obesity rate among kids ages 10-17 at 26.1 percent, followed by West Virginia and Kentucky. Here are the 10 states with the highest proportion of obese kids:
- Mississippi, 26.1 percent
- West Virginia, 20.3 percent
- Kentucky, 19.3 percent
- Louisiana, 19.1 percent
- Oklahoma, 18.7 percent
- Ohio, 18.6 percent
- Texas, 18.5 percent
- Georgia, 18.4 percent
- Alabama, 18.2 percent
- Iowa, 17.7 percent
Nine of the 10 states with the highest rates are located in the South, according to the organization. Meanwhile, nine of the 10 states with the lowest rates are either in the West or Northwest.
Two states had rates less than 10 percent, with Utah pacing the country at 8.7 percent, followed by New Hampshire at 9.8 percent. Washington, Minnesota and Wyoming rounded out the five states with the smallest percent of obese children.
The report also praised the progress made in North Dakota, which saw its youth obesity rate drop from 15.8 percent in 2016 to 12.5 percent in the combined 2016-17 dataset. It was the only state to see a statistically significant change.
The study used data from the 2016-17 National Survey of Children’s Health, which is based on parent reports of their kids’ heights and weights. The parent reports are used to calculate body-mass index, or BMI. BMI is used to calculate percentiles in different age groups and identify children who are obese.
The survey was significantly redesigned before the 2016 report, the authors said, and the changes mean it is impossible to directly compare results from the 2016 or 2017 survey to previous versions.
Scientists predict more than 50 percent of today’s kids will be obese by age 35 if current trends continue, the report noted. If we hope to change that future, the authors recommended, among other things, that federal lawmakers strengthen vital nutrition programs for low-income children and expand programs to make healthy foods more accessible.
Go to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s website for national results and Illinois findings for “The State of Obesity.”
Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.
Photo via Shutterstock
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