Hristina Byrnes, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
The percentage of children and adolescents who are not just overweight but obese has more than tripled since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By 2018, nearly one in five children between the age of 2 and 19 were obese.
Childhood obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex.
Of the 42 states for which there is data on adolescent obesity, Georgia is the state with the 7th largest share of high school students who are obese at 18.3%. In comparison, about one in seven, or 15.5%, of high schoolers nationwide are considered obese.
Additionally, 18.1% of students in ninth to 12th grade are overweight, the 5th highest share in the country and compared to 16.1% across the U.S.
Poverty is a potential factor contributing to a higher obesity rate among younger people. Healthier foods that tend to be lower in calories and more nutritious are relatively more expensive and may be less affordable to low-income households. About 18.7% of children under 18 in Georgia live in poverty, the 14th highest share in the country. The U.S. child poverty is 16.8%.
Georgia has the second highest rate of residents with limited access to healthy foods at 9.0% compared to 5.9% of people across the country as a whole.
Health experts have pointed to several lifestyle factors that are likely contributing to the excess weight problem among Americans, among them a sedentary lifestyle. About 57.7% of communities in Georgia are built in a way that promotes physical activity — which means having plenty of sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, and walking paths. This is the 10th lowest share in the country. Across the U.S., 74.9% of communities are built in such a way.
About 68.0% of children between 2 and 19 years old in the state have easy access to parks and playgrounds, the 12th lowest in the U.S. and compared to 76.5% of 2- to 19-year-olds in the country as a whole.
To determine the states where children in high school — ninth to 12th graders — are struggling with obesity, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2019 data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. We ranked the states based on the reported youth obesity rate as of 2019, the latest year for which data is available. These are the states with the highest rates of obesity among high schoolers.
| State | High schoolers who are obese | High schoolers who are overwight | Families with limited access to healthy foods | Children with easy access to park/playground | Poverty rate (under 18) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 23.4% | 18.0% | 10.7% | 46.4% | 28.1% |
| West Virginia | 22.9% | 16.5% | 6.6% | 56.7% | 20.1% |
| Arkansas | 22.1% | 19.8% | 8.7% | 55.1% | 22.1% |
| Tennessee | 20.9% | 18.3% | 8.5% | 58.1% | 19.7% |
| Missouri | 18.4% | 16.1% | 6.8% | 71.2% | 17.1% |
| Kentucky | 18.4% | 17.8% | 5.6% | 58.8% | 21.7% |
| Georgia | 18.3% | 18.1% | 9.0% | 68.0% | 18.7% |
| Oklahoma | 17.6% | 18.1% | 8.6% | 64.4% | 19.9% |
| Alabama | 17.2% | 20.1% | 7.9% | 53.1% | 21.4% |
| Iowa | 17.0% | 15.9% | 5.6% | 77.1% | 13.0% |
| Texas | 16.9% | 17.8% | 8.7% | 74.2% | 19.2% |
| South Carolina | 16.6% | 16.3% | 9.1% | 56.3% | 19.7% |
| Louisiana | 16.5% | 17.8% | 9.5% | 59.0% | 27.0% |
| Hawaii | 16.4% | 14.4% | 6.9% | 87.2% | 12.4% |
| California | 15.9% | 15.2% | 3.3% | 87.5% | 15.6% |
| North Carolina | 15.4% | 16.0% | 6.7% | 56.7% | 19.5% |
| Pennsylvania | 15.4% | 14.5% | 4.6% | 81.8% | 16.9% |
| Michigan | 15.3% | 16.1% | 6.3% | 76.6% | 17.6% |
| New Mexico | 15.2% | 15.8% | 14.0% | 70.9% | 24.9% |
| Illinois | 15.2% | 15.5% | 4.5% | 89.2% | 15.7% |
| Kansas | 15.1% | 15.7% | 8.3% | 77.3% | 14.7% |
| Maine | 14.9% | 14.8% | 3.8% | 70.2% | 13.8% |
| Virginia | 14.8% | 15.8% | 4.3% | 69.8% | 13.4% |
| Alaska | 14.8% | 15.0% | 9.2% | 73.0% | 13.0% |
| Wisconsin | 14.5% | 14.6% | 4.8% | 78.9% | 13.5% |
| Connecticut | 14.4% | 14.9% | 4.3% | 76.2% | 14.1% |
| Rhode Island | 14.3% | 14.6% | 4.7% | 83.9% | 14.0% |
| South Dakota | 14.1% | 15.6% | 10.5% | 79.8% | 15.0% |
| North Dakota | 14.0% | 16.5% | 7.0% | 81.8% | 10.2% |
| Florida | 14.0% | 16.1% | 7.2% | 73.4% | 17.7% |
| New York | 13.4% | 16.3% | 2.3% | 88.6% | 18.1% |
| Arizona | 13.3% | 17.4% | 7.5% | 81.9% | 19.1% |
| Nebraska | 13.3% | 12.8% | 5.6% | 84.5% | 11.0% |
| Vermont | 13.1% | 13.7% | 3.3% | 73.0% | 10.2% |
| Maryland | 12.8% | 15.7% | 3.4% | 82.7% | 12.0% |
| New Hampshire | 12.7% | 14.0% | 5.0% | 69.2% | 7.1% |
| Nevada | 12.3% | 16.7% | 5.4% | 80.1% | 16.9% |
| Idaho | 12.1% | 12.4% | 7.1% | 72.8% | 13.2% |
| New Jersey | 11.9% | 14.7% | 3.6% | 88.9% | 12.3% |
| Montana | 11.5% | 13.0% | 8.3% | 73.3% | 14.9% |
| Colorado | 10.3% | 11.7% | 5.5% | 87.9% | 10.9% |
| Utah | 9.8% | 12.3% | 5.8% | 89.7% | 9.9% |
