Continued Decline in Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence Among New York City Public School Youth in Grades K-8: 2011-2017.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to estimate population-level prevalence of obesity and severe obesity for New York City youth and examine the most recent trends over time. METHODS: All public school youth in grades kindergarten through eighth (K-8) (2011-2012 through 2016-2017) with valid weight and height measures were included (N = 1,137,782 unique students; 3,720,297 observations). Age- and sex-specific BMI percentiles for obesity and severe obesity were estimated using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Repeated cross-sectional analyses were conducted using logistic regression, weighting for missing or invalid responses and accounting for clustering by students and schools to examine trends over time and by sociodemographics. RESULTS: Among youth in K-8 (aged 5-15 years, 48.8% girls), the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in 2011-2012 was 21.5% and 6.4%, respectively, compared with 20.2% and 6.0%, respectively, in 2016-2017. Since 2011-2012, decreasing trends in obesity and severe obesity (relative declines: 6.0% and 6.3%, respectively, P < 0.001) have been observed. Significant decreases were observed for all subgroups (P < 0.001), although there remained disparities in relative declines over time by race/ethnicity and poverty. CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing trends in obesity and severe obesity among all New York City K-8 public school youth are promising; however, persistent disparities highlight the need to improve intervention design and implementation strategies for groups disproportionately burdened by obesity.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Day, SE; D'Agostino, EM; Huang, TT-K; Larkin, M; Harr, L; Konty, KJ

Published Date

  • March 2020

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 28 / 3

Start / End Page

  • 638 - 646

PubMed ID

  • 32090508

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1930-739X

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1002/oby.22732

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States