Prevalence of obesity among children in six Chicago communities: findings from a health survey

Abstract

Objectives: We analyzed data from a community health survey to assess levels of obesity and overweight among children in some Chicago communities compared with national U.S. estimates.

Methods: Data came from the Sinai Improving Community Health Survey, which was conducted via face-to-face interviews with people living in six racially and ethnically diverse Chicago communities during 2002 and 2003. A stratified, three-stage probability study design was employed to obtain a representative sample from each community. Height and weight data reported by the primary caretakers of 501 randomly selected children aged 2-12 years were used to determine age- and gender-specific body mass index (BMI), which was then used to classify weight status (obese > or =95th percentile for age and gender).

Results: Compared with 16.8% for the U.S., the prevalence of obesity was 11.8% in a non-Hispanic white community on Chicago's north side, 34.0% in a Mexican American community on the west side, and 56.4% in a non-Hispanic black community on the south side.

Conclusions: Surveillance of the childhood obesity epidemic at the local level is limited. Findings describe the extent of disparities in childhood overweight and obesity within one city and how local-level data can shape new initiatives for improved health, one community at a time.

Figure 1

Prevalence of obesity (BMI for age $95th percentile) among children aged 2–12 years in six Chicago communities compared with the U.S.^a

Figure 2

Prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI for age $85th percentile) among children aged 2–12 years in six Chicago communities compared with the U.S.^a