One in Five Teenagers Is Obese

The percentage of teenagers who are obese has more than quadrupled in the past 40 years, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Among 12-to-19-year-olds, just 5.0 percent were obese in the 1976–1980 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Forty years later in 2017–2018, a much larger 21.2 percent of teenagers were obese. Obesity is defined as a sex-specific BMI (body mass index) at or above the 95th percentile for the age group in the CDC's 2000 Growth Charts.

Percent of 12-to-19-year-olds who are obese

2017–2018: 21.2%

2007–2008: 18.1%

1999–2000: 14.8%

1976–1980:   5.0%

Teen boys are more likely than teen girls to be obese—22.5 percent of boys and 19.9 percent of girls were obese in 2017–2018. 

Obesity is a growing problem for younger children as well. In the 6-to-11 age group, 20.3 percent were obese in 2017–18 (up from 6.5 percent in 1976–1980). Among children aged 2-to-5, a substantial 13.4 percent were obese in 2017–2018 (up from 5.0 percent in 1976–1980). 

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity among Children and Adolescents Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 1963–1965 through 2017–2018