Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr;14(4):e12483.
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12483. Epub 2018 Dec 4.

Geographical variation in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome among US adolescents

M D DeBoer  1 , S L Filipp  2 , M J Gurka  2
Affiliations

Geographical variation in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome among US adolescents

M D DeBoer et al. Pediatr Obes. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Among adolescents, obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) contribute to adult cardiovascular disease risk. By parent report, obesity prevalence in the USA was highest in the South.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity and MetS by US division and region.

Methods: We used in-person assessment of 4600 US adolescents age 12-19 years participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2014.

Results: Prevalence of obesity was highest in the East North Central division (21.3%) and the three census divisions in the South (all >20%), compared with lower prevalence in the Mountain and New England divisions (both <15%). MetS was most prevalent in the two divisions in the Midwest (both >10%) and lowest in the Mountain and New England divisions (both <6%). For the amount of obesity in each division, there was a higher prevalence of MetS in the West North Central division (obesity 17.1%, MetS 13.6%) and lower prevalence in the East South Central (obesity 23.5%, MetS 6.6%) and South Atlantic divisions (obesity 20.4%, MetS 6.7%).

Conclusions: The degree of obesity-related and MetS-related risk among adolescents in the Midwest is higher than suggested from previous parent-reported weight data. The Midwest and South may warrant particularly strong cardiovascular disease prevention efforts.

Keywords: Geography; metabolic syndrome; obesity; paediatric.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interests relevant to this article to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Prevalence of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and Percentile of MetS Severity by U.S. Census Division from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999–2014.
Data shown for prevalence of A. obesity and B. metabolic syndrome and C. mean percentile of MetS severity among U.S. adolescents age 12–19 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Lawman HG, Fryar CD, Kruszon-Moran D, Kit BK, et al. Trends in Obesity Prevalence Among Children and Adolescents in the United States, 1988–1994 Through 2013–2014. JAMA 2016;315(21):2292–2299. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blüher S, Schwarz P. Metabolically healthy obesity from childhood to adulthood - Does weight status alone matter? Metabolism 2014;63(9):1084–1092. - PubMed
    1. Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Daniels SR, Donato KA, Eckel RH, Franklin BA, et al. Diagnosis and management of the metabolic syndrome - An American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Scientific Statement. Circulation 2005;112(17):2735–2752. - PubMed
    1. Shulman GI. Ectopic fat in insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and cardiometabolic disease. N Engl J Med 2014;371(23):2237–2238. - PubMed
    1. DeBoer MD. Obesity, systemic inflammation, and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes among adolescents: A need for screening tools to target interventions. Nutrition 2013;29(2):379–386. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types