Additional Information

Here are some things you probably need to know to get your community health initiative off the ground.

Surveys and Data

Here's some eye-opening information about children, nutrition, activity and disease.

Overweight Children

The prevalence of overweight children aged 6-11 and overweight adolescents aged 12-19 has more than tripled in the past 30 years, increasing from 5 percent in 1970 to 16 percent in 2002 (Prevalence of Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002).

Prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents ages 6-19 years

Body Mass Index

The Centers for Disease Control have developed a site to help you and the teen or pre-teen in your life determine whether you have a healthy body mass index (BMI).

For Kansas specific data take a look at the 2005 Kansas State Profile (Adobe Acrobat) developed by Kansas Action for Healthy Kids.

Diet and Disease

  • Overweight and obesity, influenced by poor diet and inactivity, are significantly associated with an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and poor health status.
  • Type-2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, has become increasingly prevalent among children and adolescents as rates of overweight and obesity rise. A CDC study estimated that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.
  • Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to become overweight or obese adults; one study showed that children who became overweight by age 8 were more severely obese as adults.
  • Early indicators of atherosclerosis, the most common cause of heart disease, begin as early as childhood and adolescence. Atherosclerosis is related to high blood cholesterol levels, which are associated with poor dietary habits.
  • Osteoporosis, a disease where bones become fragile and can break easily, is associated with inadequate intake of calcium.
  • The fact sheet (Adobe Acrobat)

In the last 2 decades, type-2 diabetes (formerly known as adult-onset diabetes) has been reported among U.S. children and adolescents with increasing frequency.

  • Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents.
  • Approximately 151,000 people below the age of 20 have diabetes.
  • The epidemics of obesity and low level of physical activity among young people, as well as exposure to diabetes in the womb during fetal development, may be major contributors to the increase in type-2 diabetes during childhood and adolescence.
  • Children and adolescents diagnosed with type-2 diabetes are generally between 10 and 19 years old, obese, have a strong family history for type-2 diabetes, and have insulin resistance.

For more information, visit the CDC web site.