Roughly one in six youth have obesity, according to the newest available data. The data, from the National Survey of Children’s Health, show that in 2021-2022, 17.0% of youth ages 10 to 17 had obesity.
There are significant disparities by race and ethnicity at the national level. In 2021-2022, Non-Hispanic Asian children had the lowest obesity rate (9.6%) followed by Non-Hispanic White children (13.1%). Obesity rates were significantly higher for Hispanic (22.7%), non-Hispanic Black (22.0%), and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (21.4%) children.
There were also significant differences based on household income. In 2021-2022, children in the lowest income group had the highest rates of obesity (24.1%) while children in the highest income group had the lowest (9.7%).
Seven states had youth obesity rates significantly higher than the national rate (17.0%): West Virginia (24.8%), Kentucky (24.0%), New Mexico, (23.9%), Mississippi (23.1%), Louisiana (21.8%), Texas (21.5%), and Tennessee (20.9%).
Eleven states had youth obesity rates significantly lower than the national rate (17.0%): Minnesota (12.1%), Utah (12.2%), Washington (12.9%), Wyoming (12.9%), Idaho (13.0%), Vermont (13.0%), Massachusetts (13.1%), Montana (13.1%), New Hampshire (13.6%), Nebraska (13.8%), and Oregon (14.6%).
