Childhood obesity is a serious health problem in the United States, affecting 1 in 5 children and adolescents. Some groups of children are more affected than others, but all children are at risk of gaining weight higher than what is considered healthy.

Childhood obesity is a complex disease that can occur when your child is above a healthy weight for their age and height. The medical definition of childhood obesity is having a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile on the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) specific growth charts. Children’s BMI factors differ from adults. For children, BMI is age- and sex-specific because their body compositions vary as they age. They also vary between children assigned male at birth and children assigned female at birth.

According to the most recent statistics from the CDC, childhood obesity continues to rise. Recent statistics show:

• 13.4% of children ages 2 to 5 have obesity.
• 20.3% of children ages 6 to 11 have obesity.
• 21.2% of children ages 12 to 19 have obesity.
• Overall, 19.3% of children, or 14.4 million children in the United States, have obesity.

Obesity is complex. Many factors can contribute to excess weight gain including behavior, genetics, and taking certain medications.

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high.

Childhood obesity can affect any child, but it’s more common among certain groups. Socioeconomic status and ethnicity continue to play a role in the frequency of childhood obesity.

Recent statistics show rates of childhood obesity dropped as the head of a household’s level of education increased. In the lowest income group, 18.9% of children and adolescents had obesity. In the highest income group, 10.9% of children and adolescents had obesity.

In addition, statistics show childhood obesity affects:

• 25.6% of Hispanic children.
• 24.2% of non-Hispanic Black children.
• 16.1% of non-Hispanic white children.
• 8.7% of non-Hispanic Asian children.