Overweight among students in grades K-12--Arkansas, 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years

Prevalence of overweight among children nearly doubled from 1976-1980 to 1999-2002 in the United States. During 1999-2002, approximately 65% of adults aged > or =20 years were overweight or obese, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Among persons aged 6-19 years during the same period, 31% were overweight or at risk for overweight. In 2003, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) survey indicated that 27% of high school students were overweight or at risk for overweight. Among adolescents with a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile, approximately 50% will become obese adults, and 70% will become obese or overweight adults. Although NHANES and YRBS provide population-based, cross-sectional state and national samples, no studies reflect a national or statewide longitudinal cohort assessment of childhood and adolescent obesity. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Institute of Medicine recommend annual assessments of BMI as a strategy for preventing and combating childhood obesity. In 2003, Arkansas implemented a multifaceted statewide initiative to reduce and prevent overweight among children. A key aspect of this initiative (Act 1220) is the mandated annual statewide BMI assessments of all Arkansas public school students with confidential reporting of results to parents. This report describes the results of this large-scale population screening, which indicated that, during the 2003--04 and 2004--05 school years, 38% of Arkansas students were overweight or at risk for overweight. This finding suggests a more severe problem than that reported for other states. Because rates of childhood and adolescent obesity in certain areas might be higher than anticipated, health policy decisions that address health outcomes and cost of care should be based on state-specific, population-based data.