Obesity in K-7 students - Anchorage, Alaska, 2003-04 to 2010-11 school years

Abstract

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern in the United States. National data indicate that from 1999 to 2010, obesity stopped increasing among females aged 2-19 years but continued to increase among males. Other reports have suggested that obesity is decreasing in certain geographic areas or among certain groups of children. In the metropolitan area of Anchorage, Alaska, during the 2003-04 school year, an estimated 16.8% of children in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough school districts in grades K, 1, 3, 5, and 7 were obese, similar to a 2003-2006 national estimate of 17.0% for youths aged 6-11 years. To determine whether trends in the two Anchorage-area school districts mirror those in the rest of the United States, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services analyzed body mass index (BMI) data for public schoolchildren in grades K, 1, 3, 5, and 7 for the 2003-04 to 2010-11 school years. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which found that, overall, the prevalence of obesity decreased by 3.0% from 2003-04 to 2010-11, and the decline varied widely by subgroup. The decrease was significant among boys (5.5%), white students (15.1%), students in grades K, 1, and 3 (5.4%), and students in schools where ≤50% of students were receiving subsidized lunches (8.2%). Efforts are needed to further reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in the Anchorage area and to focus on poorer schools and those groups with the highest prevalence of obesity.

FIGURE

Prevalence of obesity^* among public school children in grades K, 1, 3, 5, and 7, by grade, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) — Anchorage metropolitan area, 2003–04 through 2010–11 school years (N = 152,803) ^* Unadjusted weighted obesity prevalence. 95% confidence intervals are indicated by brackets.